


Ma Petite Rose

by Iggy_Hyde



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Action, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Fluff, Multi, Revenge, Royals, false history
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25057867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iggy_Hyde/pseuds/Iggy_Hyde
Summary: Arthur grew up in a picturesque village in Scotland however when his home and family are threatened by ongoing wars and colonisation he must do what he can to save his home. The deeper he travels into royals and palaces the more he finds out about the twisted leaders of the world.
Relationships: America/Japan (Hetalia), Canada/Prussia (Hetalia), China/Russia (Hetalia), England/France (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia), Hong Kong/Iceland (Hetalia), Sealand/Wy (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia), hints of other relationships - Relationship
Comments: 23
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The meeting room was quiet, the sounds of yelling and arguing had only recently dissipated. Walking the length of the room he ran his slim fingers over the oak chairs one by one, he could feel the imperfections in the wood, the knots, bumps and splinters. Such rough abrasive wood would be removed when he became King. So too would the rough and abrasive people. He didn't like this palace as everywhere he turned he was greeted by cold, drab walls, depressing paintings and quite frankly, ugly statues strewn across the palace. Yes, things definitely needed to change.

His eyes lingered on the map that was stabbed into the table which was scarred with different colours marking each different territory. The world seemed big but that didn't put others off. With his finger he traced his father's kingdom and the territories they owned. From Europe to Africa he had to admit, he was quite impressed at how much land his family had conquered in such a short amount of time. He frowned, he knew he was lucky to be born into such power but sometimes it didn't feel like it. Sometimes it felt like it was a curse. He wasn't considered old enough to sit in with his father on their war briefings although he and his father knew he was smarter than he looked. It was stupid that he couldn’t help as he was almost 18 anyway. He sat outside the room listening to the idiotic ideas that were thrown around the room. If it were up to him he'd have had them all sacked and would've done all the planning himself. Today they were bickering about the best way to conquer the 'Barbarians' which he found quite ironic considering all the brutish murdering taking place they weren't so different from the 'Barbarians' that they feared so much. He had rolled his eyes listening to them talking about trying to outsmart them in their own woodland territory, which is a quick way of getting killed.

He sat down in his father's chair so he could see things properly, "least his chair is comfortable" he smiled to himself. With a bit of eff ort he pulled one of the daggers that held the map down and looked at it. In all honesty he wasn't much of a fighter but he could appreciate a good weapon. He gently ran his thumb across the smooth carvings on the dagger, it was very well crafted, the point could easily cut through a person, he thought, giving a few fake swings. He was startled out his thoughts by the sound of a knock on the meeting door. He hid the knife and cleared his throat.

"You can come in?"

"Yes m'lord," It was one of the maids, he breathed a sigh of relief. She was a short portly woman, what she lacked in looks she certainly made up for with heart as she was more of a mother to the Prince than his real one was "You know you shouldn't really be in here, remember what happened last time?"

"..oui" he said, holding his knuckles as he remembered how sore the blisters were after he had had them slapped by his father. "They're not really planning to attack with brute force are they?"

The maid paused. "It's not my place to say but I'd hope not, I would ask your mother, she'd know more about it" She smiled as she swept the dust into the fireplace. She could see the disdain on his face "Cheer up m'lord one of these days it will be you in here arranging things" 

"That day couldn't come soon enough” He moaned, blowing his blonde hair out his face. 

"Careful what you wish for m’lord,” She chuckled watching him trying to get his hair out his face “C'mere," she motioned to him as he came over to her. She gently pulled his hair back into a ponytail "Better?"

"Yes thank you"

“You’ve got such gorgeous hair you know, I’m jealous” She smiled knowing full well the Prince could not resist a bit of flattery.

“I wish I had a heart as kind as yours” He smiled back.

"Aww, you’re too sweet. Now come on, it's getting late you should head up to bed" He nodded and hugged her.

"Alright... Good night"

"Good night m'lord" the maid continued with her work as the young Prince left and headed upstairs to his room. Like the rest of the castle his room was dull and depressing and he sulked as he fell back onto his bed. 

He lay there for hours after the rest of the palace had gone to bed, listening to the sound of rats squeaking and water dripping from the ceiling he groaned.  _ This place is disgusting! _ He thought, looking at the spiders on his wall.  _ I'm a Prince yet I live in a place fit for horses. I can’t stand this filth much longer.  _

_ This place is in desperate need of renovation and some colour!  _ He took out the blade from his pocket and admired it closely.  _ I think red would be a nice touch. _


	2. Bonnie Alba

_ Take a deep breath. _

_ Focus. _

_ Steady your thoughts. _

_ Aim. _

_ Shoot.  _

Arthur smirked to himself as he saw the deer in his sights stumble and fall to the floor. 

"Whey! took you long enough" His older brother Allistair clapped from the trees behind him. He jumped down and ruffled Arthur's hair as he headed over to inspect the carcass. "Only took you like, what? 8 years to kill something" Arthur rolled his eyes as Allistair chortled. 

"Whatever, unlike you some of us weren't raised to be savages" The blonde teases, coming to stand next to Allistair. He watches intently as his brother removes the arrow from the flank of the deer and mutters aloud the anatomy of the deer and what is used for what. He blanched as Allistair inserts his knife into the deers stomach and tears the knife down exposing its entrails. 

"Och, c'mon it's a deer not a human. Help me so we can preserve it best we can" The blonde reluctantly kneels down to help his brother "You take its liver," Aware of his brothers sick expression Allistair snickers "It's the tastiest part~"

"You're fucking disgusting"

"Where do you think we get your fancy jackets and waistcoats from? Exactly" The two boys heave up the carcass after removing its innards. They hauled the heavy beast down the creek as Arthur looks down at all the lush trees in the forest. As much as he didn't like hunting, he did like being outside. He liked the sounds of the wind rustling in the trees, swooning gently in the breeze. The birds merrily tweeting away uncaring of the danger that lurked all around them. The light as it seeped through the gaps in the leaves illuminating the forest floor. He even liked the feeling of the cold rain on his face, cooling him and reminding him that this is his home. He was shaken out of his daydreaming as he stood on a loose rock which sent him flying down the remainder of the creek. Landing roughly on his arse and scraping all up his arms he could hear his brother berating him from behind. "Owch, that's gonna leave a few marks" He hoisted the younger brother out of the shallow water and back to his feet "You 'aight?" 

"Aye," he said brushing himself down "Just lost my footing"

"I saw that, you skidded down that hill like a bloody boulder" Arthur smirked as his brother laughed at his misfortune. He nudged Allistair's shoulder in an attempt to keep him quiet, alas that doesn't work as it only causes the older brother to tease him more.

"Shut up."

"Aww, did I hurt you feelings?" Arthur maintained a scowl as Allistair taunted him about watching where he's going. As they entered the wheat field leading to the village Arthur had had enough and tackled the older boy "Hahaha, get off me you wee cunt" Allistair is bigger in build and evidently a lot stronger than Arthur. However Arthur is more nimble and fast. They scuffle and laugh for a few minutes, Arthur desperately trying to pin Allistair down. His laughter is cut short when Allistair flips the blonde on his back and puts a firm grasp over his mouth to keep him quiet. Allistair stares dead ahead through the wheat field to the carcass laying about 10 feet away from them. Arthur cannot see what Allistair's looking at as he's pinned down but by how tense Allistair feels, he can tell it's serious. Arthur can hear faint vibrations on the ground and he can see the wheat gently shaking from the momentum of the vibrations. Arthur's eyes dart to Allistairs pleading for any kind of explanation. Frantically looking to see the cause of the vibrations Arthur notices Allistairs slowly reaching for his dagger as he very slowly releases the grip from Arthur's mouth. Slowly he sits up and immediately regrets it as he sees a gigantic brown bear sniffing about the deer carcass. 

It plods around the carcass and sticks its long nose into the dead beast looking for the better part of the meal. Arthur freezes as the bear sniffs again this time more towards them. His heart stops as he feels the wet and squelchy organs in his pouch, he looks to Allistair for assistance but he has his complete focus on the bear. Mentally he tries to deliberate his different choices. He could run, but the bear would see him and chase him down in seconds. He could throw the bag but that might also attract the bear. He noticed that Allistair was slowly readying himself to attack, Arthur held back a string of curses. Allistair may be strong but not strong enough to challenge a fully grown monster. Allistair evaluated the beast, it was about 9 ft big, a single paw strong enough to rip flesh from the bones, teeth that would make quick work of his weapons and enough strength to crush a fully grown man. He looked back at the meaker brother and gave him an affirming nod after which Arthur grabbed his arm and shook his head. Allistair pulled his arm away and Arthur shimmied over slowly. Unable to plead his case Arthur mouthed for him to stop,  _ begged _ for him to stop. Allistairs brows furrowed as Arthur grabbed his arm once again, tighter this time. Taking his gaze off of Allistair for a minute Arthur stared back at the bear to see two glassy soulless eyes staring at him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the bear looked over the two brothers. Unable to read any emotion from the giant beast Arthur began to shake silently wishing for the bear to back down. Allistair waited, he waited for the bear to focus on the blonde so he could go in for a killing blow. The bear ambled over to the two and focused in on Arthur's pouch.  _ 'This is my chance'  _ he thought. He readied his dagger but just before striking he is distracted by a call not too far in the distance. The boys dared to look away from the beast to see two cubs at the edge of the wheat field calling out to the other bear. With a low grunt the bear dragged the deer carcass over to the cubs and with a final look at the two, the family retreated into the trees. Arthur felt faint as Allistair hugged him tightly.

"Are you okay?!" the brothers held on to each other for what must have been minutes, relishing in the feeling of the others, beating, heart.

Arthur paused and sighed looking up at Allistair "What was a bear doing here?? Bears haven't been spotted in this part of the land in almost 20 years" Allistair looked into the forest and sighed.

"Might have something to do with that." He pointed at a small smoke trail coming from the other side of the mountain. "From what I've heard they've been pushing the boundaries trying to keep us closer together."

"Why?"

"Easier to conquer that way," The older boy blows a few strands of hair out his face as he scowls at the smoke in the distance.

He sits for a minute, thinking of what to say "You don't think they'll actually do it do you?"

  
  


"Wouldn’t put it past them Arthur, they've been trying to take bonnie Alba for years now and with the wars at sea distracting other nations, when's a better time than now?"

"Then people know we're in trouble so-"

"Did you not hear me? They're fighting at sea, they're not going to care about us "barbarians". If we're lucky we'll get conquered by a nicer nation if we don't all die first." Allistair can see the pained expression on the blonde and sighs "Listen Arthur, if it's not now, it'll be ten years, or twenty. We can stand up for ourselves as much as we can but we can't overthrow a full army"

"But the other clans???"

"They're busy if not already taken over. We just- count our blessing that every day we wake up, we’re still free men. It isn't fair. But what will be will be, I promise." Arthur frowns but nods. "C'mon, lets get home and tell ma before any other beasts come running down the creek"

The two boys head the rest of the way home, at least they got something from that deer.

Thankfully they get back to their village in less than ten minutes. The stress of the day and threat of imminent colonisation is immediately alleviated from Arthur's shoulders as he steps back into his village where children run in and out of houses laughing and singing. The women and men all talking and working away in some unusually warm weather. They enter their home to find their mum and two other brothers sat preparing for dinner.

"I take it you didn't catch anything?" Their brown haired brother Dylan chirped. Allistair ignores his remark and notions to their mum 

  
  


"Can we talk, privately?" She nods and her and Allistair step into one of the rooms. Dylan looks Arthur up and down.

"Eurgh, you're bloody filthy. What did you run into?"

"A bear" Arthur says as he chucks Dylan the pouch filled with deer guts and places his bow and arrow on his bed. Dylan's eyes widen.

  
  


"Bear, as in big brown fucker?"

  
  


"Aye, what else would I be talking about" He can see the worry in Dylan's face "...don't worry, we scared it off."

  
  


"Promise?" 

He sighs "There'll be no bears anywhere near the village, but I'd appreciate you keeping your gob shut, even to the sheep. We don't need people getting all anxious over a mumma bear and her cubs" Dylan nods and the brothers talk about their day to one another unaware that there was an army slowly closing in on their village. 


	3. An Unknown Siege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur reflects on his memories within the village as he notices smoke in the distance...

The moon was bright, the stars shining and Arthur could not get to sleep. He sat up in the darkness, trying not to wake the rest of his family; he crept to the door with his bow and quiver. Unlike the rest of his family Arthur was much more of a night owl preferring the deep dark sky to the bright and heavy sun. There was something mysterious about the night that Arthur liked anyway, the abyss of the woods always held secrets at night. Quietly exiting the house he looked up at the stars, there was not a cloud in the sky. No soft blurs in front of the twinkling light that helped illuminate the village in the rest of the darkness. He smiled to himself and headed into the trees. Almost every tree was littered with holes and scratches from arrows and knives. The village was home to a small number of people but was fortunate enough to have quite a vast amount of land and during the summer it was their village that would hold the 'Highland Gathering’ which was the highlight of the year. Each year at the start of Spring the villagers would work doubly hard to make sure the village was decorated and gorgeous looking for the Gathering. This years celebrations were great, Arthur had gotten to see different clans from all across the country from; Dumfries to Ullapool, the Isle of Arran to Arbroath. It was truly a spectacle to behold, so many different accents and colours. It was rather impressive seeing all the different tartans all standing around in the flat land. There's always lots of talking, lots of fighting and lots of food. Clans bring different delicacies from their region, most of the food was great however Arthur still wasn't a fan of haggis. His favourite aspect of the Games was the music as he and his younger brothers Dylan and Seamus played for their region. Arthur played the Tin Whistler whilst his brother played the Bodhrán, they were quite good at it, if he did say so himself. Whilst not as good as the music the games were still pretty interesting, Arthur knew there had always been subtle competitiveness between the East and the West but at the Gathering, even though it was a competition, most people came to mingle. That was not to say that Arthur was not chuffed when the clans from the West won the Shot Put, Hammer Throw _and_ the Caber Toss. He smiled softly thinking fondly on how happy everyone was this year. However guilt crept into his mind as he wondered if the Gathering would be the same next year, how next year there might not be many clans left to come and compete, that there might not be any Gathering at all next year, or _ever!_

He hushed his qualms as he came to a brook and knelt down next to it. His reflection danced across the ever flowing water as he dipped his hands into it's icy cold touch. He gently splashed a little on his face only then realising how hot he'd gotten after getting himself all worked up. He took a deep breath and sighed. _'calm down'_ he told himself as he regained his composure. He pulled himself up and continued walking through the trees, even though it was dark he knew where he was headed. A twenty minute walk North of the village is his old family hunting hide his dad had helped him and his brothers build years ago. It was very well camouflaged with the rest of the forest as Arthur climbed up. It was covered in beasties but Arthur didn't really mind, he was too busy inspecting the initials engraved on the tree;

C + A + P + D + A + S

His finger lingered over the P as he frowned. That was Patrick, one of his brothers. When he had heard that the clans across the water were fighting against the mainland kingdoms he and their dad had left to help. That had been four months ago. Arthur didn't want to give up hope on them as he knew both Patrick and his father were incredibly strong but considering each day the threat of being conquered was greater than the last, he couldn't help but be sceptical about their well being. He frowned _'They could be bloody dead, and I wouldn't know any better as I'm stuck here doing nothing'_ Thoughts flooded his mind as his emotions got the better of him. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he held his face in his hands.

"Keep it together Arthur, fuck sake. They'll be fine, they're the best fighters in the West. Shut it and calm the fuck down." He murmured as he wiped the hot tears off of his face. As he shuffled around in the small hide his foot caught on something, he glanced back to find a hidden compartment and his eyes lit up. He dug through the cobwebbed hole and found 7 tiny dolls. They were made of twigs and old materials but he recognised them instantly, his little brother Seamus had made them to resemble each member of the family. The only noticeable differences being the hair colour and size, the dolls of his dad, Allistair, Patrick and Seamus all had leaves painted with berries to make it red, Dylan's hair was made out of bark and Arthur and his mothers were made out of wheat. He smiled, he'd bring them back and show Seamus in the morning. He paused momentarily, distracted by the smell of smoke in the distance.

Forest fire? No, no-one else is out and no-one leaves flames out in the trees. It seemed a bit early for the villagers to be getting up he thought as he put the dolls in his pouch forgetting that it still had traces of guts from this mornings adventures.

"Ew... Fuck, I'll clean it later" He picked up his bow but paused again when he heard leaves crunch nearby. He froze and looked through the trees, it wasn't a bear, he was sure of that, it was too light footed to be, maybe it's a deer? He hoped. He tapped on the wood four times which was his village's way of telling someone they're planning to shoot to warn someone in case they aren't a deer. He waited but there was no reply or knock back so he shot an arrow to the noise. He heard a heavy thud and waited once again for any noise.

Slowly he scaled down the hide and headed over to where he fired his arrow. He was shocked when he came across a man with an arrow in his neck. Arthur immediately gagged and jumped back, he'd never shot a person let alone killed them. Panic flooded his thoughts; _How was he going to tell the others? What would they think? He'd be flogged if he was lucky! Or exiled!!_ His mind was racing with millions of possibilities that would happen when the village found out. He fought back tears and turned back to the body to inspect it, it was then he had noticed the man was wearing a uniform. He (not so gracefully) kicked the man onto his back where he saw he was wearing chest armour which had a weird looking lily on it. There was no tartan, no kilt, not even a bow and arrow, there was a sword that Arthur picked up. It had the lily on it as well, it looked familiar as he raked through his memories trying to find where it was from. The only thing he could think of was a conversation he had had with Allistair a few months ago;

_"It's like the way we have broaches, tattoos and tartan to establish each clan from each other, they do that with clothing and funny little symbols" he had said pointing to the new tattoo on his chest that he was rather proud of._

_Arthur had cocked a brow "But why? Mainlander's don't play in the Games, so why would they need it? Just stick to their own territories?"_

_Allistair had frowned "A lot of them don't like to do that. The symbols also help soldiers tell each other apart when they're fighting in battle"_

_"...why are they fighting?"_

_He paused and thought for a minute, his fingers scratching his chin "A dinna ken. Maybe for money, maybe for glory? My guess is greed, same as here, same as everywhere. Just, try not to think too much about it" Allistair had ruffled his hair._

The cogs were turning in Arthur's brain like clockwork. He grabbed the mans cloth insignia from his cloak and ran as fast as his legs could take him. Their village was soon going to be under attack, he had to warn the others. His heart pounded in his chest like a drum as leaves swirled around his feet. Glancing back he tripped over a growling rock and face planted into a tree. It was a sore impact and Arthur could feel warm blood pouring past his brow, he must've hit his head quite hard but that wasn't going to stop him. He got up to run again but realised that normally rocks don't growl. He looked up into the face of the bear from earlier, however unlike earlier his anger outweighed his fear.

"Well you didn't get very bloody far!" He snarled at the bear who held her low growl in return. He looked back to see he'd over tripped over one of the cubs and that she wasn't too pleased. "I do NOT have time for this," he frowned and sighed. He pulled the dolls out the pouch and scraped the last bits of blood and guts out of it onto the ground. "I helped your family, now I need to go help mine." The bear backed off slightly grabbing the meat as Arthur pushed himself back to his feet. "If you have any chance of living you'd be better heading North" He pointed into the trees and the bear and her cubs ran off in that direction. He grabbed the dolls quickly _fuck sake, this is not the time for this_ He mentally yelled at himself for not looking as he continued to sprint through the trees. With great accuracy he managed to race through the trees avoiding the boulders and logs, not tripping once until the clearing was in sight.

To his horror, he could hear the faint crackling of fire and smell smoke from the village. He ran to the tree line to see hundreds of men wearing the same uniform as the last, surrounding his village. He could see his friends and neighbours all rounded up in the middle of the square. Arthur pulled back slightly and took out his bow. He could see a man with brown hair and dark green eyes talking to his mother in a language he didn't understand. However he didn't really care what the guy was saying, whatever it was, it didn't look good. He raised his bow and aimed it directly at the man's skull. 

"If I'm as good a shot as I think I am, I'll get his eye out." He smirked however there was a nagging feeling in his gut. He wanted to fire it and kill the man but something was stopping him. He took as many deep breaths as he could but he still couldn't get himself to fire. His hands were shaking frantically. He looked back into the crowd and saw Allistair staring at him, piercing his soul. He seemed to be pleading with him not to shoot. He was dumbfounded, his sword wielding, blood-lusting brother was telling him _not_ to fire. 

Arthur watched intensely as the brown haired man walked past Dylan and Seamus before stopping at Allistair. He tried to hear what he was saying but all he could make out was his brother saying 'Glory be to Alba' The man laughed, stood next to Allistair the man didn't look too threatening but Allistair seemed to be listening to him. Arthur gawked as the man held out his hand and Allistair handed him over his sword. The man inspected it with great interest as Arthur moved through the trees to the south side of the village so he could get a better view of what was going on. He could see the soldiers escorting most of the village into their houses.

"Hahaha the Kirklands village really wasn't as hard as we were expecting for a bunch of barbarians," The man cackled and Arthur was amazed Allistair hadn't tried to kill him yet. "Maybe you've all gone soft. The King will be pleased." He mused. Arthur watched in horror as Dylan ran forward and kicked the man in the knee almost hyper extending it "Oh! ¡Pequeña mierda!" The soldier grabbed Dylan by the collar and Allistair almost stepped forward to intervene.

"You're wrong. We won't be easily subdued. Alba will run free of you bastards!!" He tried to fight against the taller man but unlike Allistair, Dylan didn't have much physical strength. The man threw Dylan to the ground and kicked him in the gut making him cough up drops of blood. The man takes great pleasure in this as he stalks behind Dylan slowly, watching him struggle to his feet as he kicks him down again. Dylan grunts in pain as his face is pressed into the dirt. Seamus has begun to tear up but Allistair is holding his hand trying to keep him calm.

The man looks to his side and smiles at Allistair's sword. "It does look very impressive," he smirks with a devilish glint in his eyes "Let us make an example of you, my friend. Okay?" His smile widens as he stands on Dylans chest to keep him still. "LOOK. THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU STEP OUT OF LINE, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

He hoists the sword above his head "OH, and your precious little country. **ALBA IS DE-** AH!!!" He was cut short of his kill as an arrow plunged through his hand, he stumbled off of Dylan and looked back to see a very angry looking blonde staring back at him, bow pointed at his head. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GET HIM!"

Arthur lowered his bow and turned. He could hear his brothers calling for him to run as The soldier and the guards chased after him. He could hear the man's angry shouts from behind as arrows whizzed past his head. This was his terrain, these heavy foot soldiers weren't going to catch up to nimble Arthur in the dense Scottish woodlands. He ran and ran and ran until his legs ached and he ran some more. Eventually the curses were lost in the trees but Arthur didn't stop, he didn't even look back, he kept running. He ran until the sun was in the middle of the sky, where upon crossing a stream he collapsed his legs shaking after being under so much pressure for so long. He gulped down water from the stream as his body was trying not to shut down on him completely. He saw there was a hollowed out log a few meters away which dipped just under the ground. He pulled himself to the log and rolled in it. He lay there, listening to his heart hammering in his ears.

He knew the forest pretty well but he'd never been this far South before, he had no idea of where he was and all he knew was that he couldn't go back home, not yet anyway. He was hit by a wave of emotions as he lay there in the log sobbing. His heart ached thinking of his friends and family who he may never see again. 

What was he to do?

Feeling in his pouch he pulled out the insignia which was now all dirty. He examined the colours and intricate pattern "I'll find you." He seethed. "I'll find you and I'll make you regret you were ever born. You'll regret the day you came to Alba, regret the day you crossed me. That, is a bloody promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, just a heads up. I reference events that happen in the real world but this story is completely fictitious. So I'd ask you to play along and pretend :) Also you'd think after living in Scotland for almost 9 years I'd know more about the Highland Games? Apparently not!  
> Hope you guys enjoyed and I should have the next chapter out soon!


	4. Land of the Fae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whilst travelling down South Arthur comes across a village which is unlike any other he's been to before.

Arthur awoke to the sun streaming through the trees, he grumbled as he sat up, his hair dishevelled and crawling with beasties after spending the whole day lying in the log. Uncaringly, he pulled himself to his feet and walked to the stream, dipped his head in the lake to cool off and wake himself up. He picked up his bow and frowned looking up through the trees, the sun was already in the Western sky, he'd slept almost a full day. He groaned and stretched,  _ better not waste any more time  _ he thought to himself. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going but he knew he had to keep walking South so that he could cross onto the mainland. That's where all this bloody trouble came from, the mainland.

Arthur headed South, unlike Patrick and Allistair Arthur had never been to the mainland before but he could recall all the things they had told him about. Parades that would match the Highland Games, people wearing outlandish dresses and suits and castles and kingdoms unlike anything they had ever seen. I guess that's why it was so infuriating to Arthur to think about,  _ if it's so good there then why do they want  _ **_our_ ** _ land? We don't have petticoats or armies or splendid castles. We have trees, and farms, and bears. What's so special about that?  _ The only special thing about the island that Arthur could think of was it's link to ancient magic, but all the mainlanders had dismissed this as fairy tales and children stories, so that wouldn't be why they're here. Thoughts nagged at him as he continued walking through the trees. He had noted that the terrain is very different here, unlike the mountainous views he was used to Arthur was faced with a lot of flat ground and a lot more fields.  _ Less places to hide,  _ he thought,  _ whether that was a good thing or not he'd find out eventually. At least there didn't seem to be many big animals here.  _ He'd passed many rabbit holes and fox dens, even seeing the occasional badger and deer, but no bears or wolves thankfully.

Through the distant trees he could see a dirt road which had to mean he was close to some kind of civilisation. However he wasn't sure how much of the south had been conquered so he decided to walk in the trees next to the path to be on the safe side. He had grimaced as he saw the sun rising, he had been walking for at least three days with very little rest. He managed to stock up on water and food about two days ago but he was growing weary, his legs felt like jelly. Alas, he kept pushing on, the thought of revenge fuelling him as he trod through the dense trees and bushes. 

As the sun began to set that night he decided he needed to rest, as he came to a big tree he saw a pool of blood and pieces of flesh scattered across the ground and decided it would be best to sleep high up in a tree. Slowly he tested the branches before climbing up into the tree, he sat between branches which meant he had less chance of falling or being seen, which was a really good thing as he heard voices nearby. He curls up into a ball and listens as a carriage passes by slowly. From up in the tree he could still hear the stark voice of the man who almost killed his brother a few days ago. He caught a glimpse of him, he now had a bandage on his hand from where Arthur had shot him. Arthur smirked to himself as he watched as the carriage headed South. However that made new questions arise in Arthur's mind. 

_ If they're headed South does that mean the village is free? What if they killed everyone and left? But what if they won? Could I go back? _

Arthur shook those thoughts from his head, he could think about that in the morning, if he decided to run home now he'd be too weak to make it. He  _ needed  _ to sleep. And so he did, he didn't get a very peaceful sleep as he dreamt about the endless possibilities of what could have happened to his family. In the morning he dragged himself down out of the tree. As much as he'd love to go and get revenge on a whole kingdom, the thought of that seemed less plausible by the minute and he really just wanted to check on his family. He decided to walk to the nearest village and stock up on supplies before heading back up North. He just had to hope they hadn't been conquered as well.

He stumbled tiredly down the side of the dirt path not realising that he was veering onto it. He continued down the path barely noticing the fork in the road, choosing the right path which led more into the trees. He was only properly awoken when he heard the sound of horses trotting behind him, out of fear he turned and pulled his bow out and aimed it at the man in the cart behind him. As Arthur turned he was faced with a young man with shoulder length brown hair riding a cart filled with hay. Seeing the fear on the man's face Arthur pulled the bow down.

"Oh... sorry, just a little tense," The man sighed in relief and nodded "You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest village is would you?"

He nodded, "It's just down this road, you look pretty tired. I'll give you a ride?" The man smiled as Arthur hopped onto the cart next to him.

"Thank you very much, my name is Arthur"

"Toris," he beamed as he focused on the road "It's nice to see a new face, we don't get many people coming through the village, usually they just avoid it like the plague" He chuckles to himself as Arthur eyes him suspiciously.

"Right, and why would that be?" He questioned trying not to show his rising fear.

"Oh? Just because the village is "cursed with magic" and whatnot, It's a load of shit but hey we don't get many thieves here" He shrugs and Arthur sighs in relief.

"I thought you were going to tell me that you were all being ruled over" 

Toris scoffs "Oh no, the mainlanders won't come near us, see just to the East is the coast, we're the closest trading village for miles. As big and bad as they are, they don't like to interfere with trading points with kingdoms that might fight back so we're quite lucky" Arthur already liked this place and he wasn't even there yet "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you down to our neck of the woods?"

Toris watched as Arthur's smile faded "My village was raided recently and I managed to run," He pulled the cloth out and looked at it "But I saw the soldiers bugger off South so I'm getting some supplies then heading back up-"

"Are you crazy!?" Toris blurted, seeing the confused look on Arthur's face he continued "Once they take over your village there's no getting it back, the Captain may have left but there will still be guards roaming the place. It's a suicide mission!" He frowns "It'll be safer for you to stay here, there's no telling how much of the island is theirs by now," he laughs "It's ironic, I came here from the cold nations to get away from the fighting"

Arthur sighs "So there's no way I'm getting back?"

Toris shook his head "Definitely not now anyway, c'mon I'll drop you off at the square. Go and look for Lukas, he'll know more about that little cloth thing than anyone else" He rides to a very quaint village only about 20 houses in all.

"This is a trading village?"

"Yep" Toris beamed "The Vikings seemed to really like this place so they still keep a few ports open for trading from here and the north" He stopped the cart off in the square which was completely empty "Here you are, the one with lights on is the tavern, Lukas will probably be in there, if he asks tell him Toris sent you" He smiled and Arthur nodded. He watched as Toris rode off to the barn to put the hay away.

Arthur looked around the tiny village, as soon as he stepped foot off of the carriage he felt weird, a tingle ran through his body and as he looked around he saw lots of Viking runes carved into the houses. The village was built in a circle and Arthur felt as if he was being watched. The tavern door opened and he saw a blonde man taking the trash out. He looked up and saw Arthur gawking at him.

"Like, are you going to stand there and look at me or like, are you going to come in and pay me money to get you drunk?" The man frowned resting a hand on his hip in a sassy manner.

"You're the Taverner?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"Urgh, I hate that title, my  **name** is Feliks just call me that" The man flicked the hair away from his face as Arthur noticed his green eyes were unnaturally shiny.

"Right, of course, Feliks." He walked into the tavern to find a few people crowded around one table, there didn't seem to be anyone else there except them. He awkwardly shuffled over to the table and waited until they looked at him. He was greeted with seven faces.

"Yea?"

"Um... I'm looking for Lukas, Toris said I was to come and see you?" He stood there as a pale blonde man with blue almost indigo eyes stood up. 

"That's me, let's sit somewhere where it's quiet so we can talk in peace away from them idiots" Arthur simply nodded and followed the man to the other end of the bar where they sat down. Lukas motioned for Feliks to get them both a drink. "What did you want to discuss."

Arthur pulled out the cloth and sat it on the table "How much do you know about this?" Lukas inspected the cloth and sat it back down as Feliks came over with their drinks.

"Lots, it's a fleur de lis which is a symbol of France"

"They're south of us aren't they?"

"Why?" Lukas eyed him suspiciously.

"They took over my village and I'm going to get revenge" The other blonde almost laughed

"You're joking?"

"No."

"So, you're just going to swim across the sea, march up to the castle, destroy the monarchy and come home? by yourself, with a bow, some arrows and anger?" 

Arthur was a bit dumbfounded "Well, when you put it like that..." He pouted.

"You didn't think this through did you?"

"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to figure out all the little details." Lukas looked at him unimpressed "..No."

"Mhm," he sighs "Vlad c'mere, we're going to take him up to the graveyard" A brown haired man sped over (and Arthur thought for a split second he was floating)

"Oh cool," the man smiled "It's pretty dark, we should go now" Lukas nodded and got up, Arthur followed suit and the three left the tavern and stepped out into the night sky. Arthur was a bit confused, he was sure it was only the afternoon when he stepped into the tavern five minutes ago. He noticed the village seemed to glow slightly blue in the night which he thought was odd but didn't think too much of it as he followed the two to an old graveyard. The place surprisingly didn't feel eerie or scary, it felt oddly calm, each grave was spread about 5ft apart and everything was well kept.

"This place is actually quite nice" Arthur muttered

"Yes, we like to take care of the dead" Lukas walks over to a large statue of a Viking holding an axe. "This was the old chief who fought here to make sure the French Kingdom wouldn't set foot on his land, the locals say he put a spell on the land which makes it invisible to French people,"

"That's oddly specific" Arthur hushed to himself.

Lukas rolls his eyes "What I'm saying is it took this man, tall of the Vikings and a whole lot of luck to keep this tiny village safe, what makes you think that you could save the whole island on your own? I mean, I'll point you in the right direction but you're as good as dead the minute you step a foot in France, Toris said he saw Antonio around this part which means he's heading back there."

Vlad nods "That guy is an omen of death"

Arthur looks at them confused "Antonio?"

"Yeah, he used to be the King of Spain but his good friend King of France convinced him to merge their kingdoms, now Antonio is in charge of the military, you must've seen him he's tall, dark dark brown hair, green eyes?"

It rang a bell with Arthur "Oh I shot him in the hand"

Vlad and Lukas just stared at each other "Ohhhh you're so dead the minute you step into that kingdom" 

Arthur was going to argue with them until he heard a noise in the trees, the other two had evidently heard it as well. It was a loud, slow thump coming from the woods. Lukas and Vlad listened intently as Arthur pulled out his bow. Arthur saw two dull eyes staring at them through the trees as a monster the same size as a cottage emerged from the trees. It was a 12 foot tall creature with a large nose and dull eyes, it had teeth more akin to tusks.It thudded towards the graveyard.

"What the fuck is that??" Arthur whispered in fear.

"How'd it get here, they shouldn't be here" Was the only response from Lukas as the creature approached. Arthur plucked up some courage as he aimed an arrow at the beast's head.

"Stop." He commanded but the beast plodded forward. "STOP" He fired a warning arrow past the beast which seemed to enrage it more as it picked up a large rock and charged at the three. Vlad and Lukas looked to one another, they didn't want to reveal to Arthur that they possessed magic abilities but there seemed to be no choice- until as the beast passed into the graveyard Arthur stomped his foot down on the ground and readied his bow and arrows again and yelled 

**"STOP!"**

Arthur emitted a strange green glow as the beast flew backwards. He turned to the others as they stared at him in complete disbelief. They could see that gone were the calm green eyes which had now changed to a vibrant emerald green colour which glowed in the darkness. Arthur began to shake as he saw strange words appear scrawling up his arms and over his body he looked back at the destruction he'd caused as the treeline next to the graveyard had been completely decimated but so too had the creature. The words disappeared and his eyes returned to their calmer green colour.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Arthur yelled, evidently shaken. Vlad ran up and hugged him.

"That was awesome!!" He beamed "You have THE GIFT?! That means there's more of us Lukas!" He jumped up and down, completely giddy. Lukas stared blankly at the missing trees, maybe _ he could make it? if he can do shit like that  _ he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry, you two seem  **way** too fucking calm about this! Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?" Arthur yelled trying his best to keep his composure. Lukas turned to him.

"It was a troll, I'm not sure how it got here but it did. You- got rid of it for sure," Lukas seemed almost disappointed. "Most trolls aren't aggressive to us, please don't do that next time."

"I don't know  _ what  _ I did" He replied, getting a bit annoyed at the lack of answers he was getting.

"You're magic, like us!" Vlad smiled "We were beginning to think we were the last ones"

"But I'm not, I've gone all my life and nothing like that has ever happened before"

"Well you've never come up against a troll before"

"I've been up against bears, same feeling."

Vlad shrugs "Sometimes you need to come to a magical place for it to kinda- kick in" Lukas nods. 

"If you haven't guessed by now, this place is completely magical, Feliks is a fae, Toris is a satyr, the other villagers are also non-humans. They're just good at hiding it" Arthur didn't like how stupid he felt. "This place is a safe haven for us magic folk, I did tell you it's invisible to the French"

"Yes well, if he's got a Spaniard on his side this place won't be safe for long." Lukas froze, he had never really thought of that. He'd assumed this place would always be hidden away but what if the ports in the other countries were invaded, what would happen then? He frowned.

"If we can give you a crash course of basic spells, and you- by some  **miracle** defeat the King, you'd protect this land?" Arthur nodded, it wasn't exactly a difficult choice "Alright, my friend Matthias works the ports in Denmark, he can sail you over and you can get to France by going through Germany"

Vlad tugged his arm "There's no telling the state of the German Kingdom, they could've merged with France by now"

"It's a risk, but one worth taking." Vlad sighs and nods. The two lead Arthur back to the tavern and waved to Feliks "He's one of them, you can let them out now"

"Like thank goodness," He groaned two wings unfolding from his back "That's soooo uncomfortable." Arthur was entranced by the shimmering wings as he fluttered over handing them all drinks.

"Oh um Thanks..."

Feliks smiled, liking the attention he was getting from Arthur "They're so pretty aren't they?" Arthur nodded and Vlad laughed.

"Oh don't feed his ego, please" Feliks sticks his tongue out in protest and goes back to the bar. 

Lukas points at his friends "Obviously you know me and Vlad, that's Matthias, Tino, Berwald, the young ones Peter and my little brother Emil" Emil rolls his eyes as Matthias grabs Arthur's hand and shakes it vigorously.

"Hey, we work the ports in the North from Norway to Denmark" Matthias smiled

"Yes, he knows that, he'll be going with you and Berwald to Denmark in four days so get acquainted with each other," Arthur nodded as Lukas sat down and sighed "But tonight, let's just drink." 

The nine of them, eventually after being joined by Feliks and Toris, drank the night away telling stories of their native lands and different cultures. Arthur had reminisced on his home and family, which only made the next three days of studying magic all the more important to him. He spent hours with Lukas and Vlad learning about everything from spells and potions to curses and summoning. There was no way he could remember this on his own which is why he was thankful for the magic journal that Lukas gave him. If he had a question he was to write in the journal, Lukas would have an identical copy in which he could answer the questions for him.(Now he was grateful that his mother had insisted that all of her children should be able to read and write.) It was a good way to stay in contact with one another, Lukas had also given him a magic compass to help Arthur navigate his way to France. For three days, he studied continuously and for three nights he drank himself to sleep with the others.

Waking up on Thursday morning he was presented with a new set of clothes, a bag and some food to keep him going after he arrived on the mainland. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't absolutely terrified as Vlad and Lukas walked him to the docks. Lukas, Berwald and Matthias would be taking him across to the Danish port as well as dropping off some food and supplies. Vlad hugged him.

"Stay safe"

"C'mon you know he can't guarantee that" Matthias laughed earning him a sharp jab in the side from Lukas and a disappointed stare from Berwald. Arthur nodded trying his best to look confident.

"I will, and when I get rid of the king I'll name a city after you or something" Vlad laughed with him as Arthur stepped onto the boat. He watched petrified as Matthias pushed them out of the dock and onto the open water. As Vlad became nothing more than a blur in the distance Lukas turned to him.

"Ignore the idiot steering the boat, you'll be fine, just- keep your head on straight." 

Arthur nodded even though he wasn't entirely sure he knew what Lukas meant, unaware that advice would be easier to hear than to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruh, I definately should've put this at the start of the story but to enjoy this you really got to suspend your beliefs 😂 I hope you all enjoyed, sorry for the long wait but Chapter 5 should be out soon. Thank you for the Kudos and I'll see you again soon :)


	5. The Voyage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur travels across the North Sea to reach Denmark so he can get on his way to France

The North sea was freezing, but what was he honestly expecting, the journey would take a few days and Arthur didn't feel this was the right time to express his hatred of water and his inability to swim. He had faith in Matthias to not crash the boat, considering this was his job. He sat between the carts on the boat, looking across at Berwald. After the three days he'd spent with them, he'd gotten a good idea of everyone's character however Berwald was the quietest of the group, he was also the tallest and looked like the scariest in Arthur's opinion. He decided to try his luck and see Oif he was in a talkative mood today.

"Hey" He said shyly as Berwald looked up at him from the locket he was fondling between his fingers. Berwald could see Arthur was curious about it and his stern expression softened slightly.

"It's m'wife and Peter" He turns it to show a tiny drawing of him, Tino and Peter (it was obviously made by Peter as the drawing looked like one by a six-year old, nonetheless it was cute) 

"It's cute" Arthur smiled.

"mm." Berwald replied, ever a man of many words. Arthur pressed on however, he'd be damned if he had to resort to talking to Matthias for entertainment. Anyway luckily for him, he seemed to be bothering Lukas about something.

"So how long have you and Tino been together?"

"'Bout 8 years," He could tell that Arthur was trying to engage in conversation with him and he sighed "I worked at the Swedish port and Tino came from Finland. Couldn't take my eyes off of him and never looked back. Love him." Arthurs smile widened.  _ This big boulder has emotions deep down after all  _ "I would sacrifice all of you for their safety"

Arthur's smile vanished "Well- let's hope it doesn't come to that" Berwald nods. "What about Peter?"

"We found him during a voyage from Sweden to France and we saw him floating on a broken boat, it's a wonder he didn't drown or die of hypothermia but Tino managed to save him, so we took him as our own. He looks like Tino doesn't he?" Arthur nodded along with Berwald. Arthur wasn't fully convinced but all three shared fair blonde hair and an inseparable bond with one another. Which must've meant Berwald was feeling rather lonely being away from Tino and Peter. Arthur debated going to hug Berwald but came to the conclusion that Berwald would probably deck him if he did. 

"Well, hopefully we shouldn't be too much longer, only another day to go" Arthur smiled sympathetically as the two drifted back into a comfortable silence. Which was immediately broken when Matthias started talking about 'Jormungandr' a giant serpent that the Vikings believed in which was big enough to wrap around Midgard. Arthur did  **not** like the sound of the big snake and tried getting to sleep to block out thoughts of it.

_ Arthur awoke to the sight of a pair of electric blue eyes staring at him and found he was unable to move. There appeared to be something constricting his breathing. The world was in darkness, the blue eyes shone bright but practically everything else was dark.  _

_ "Let go of me" Arthur wheezed only to be answered by a spine chilling laugh. Arthur felt a cold breath down his neck and his blood ran cold.  _

_ "Un petit lapin pris dans un piège," The voice hissed. Arthur had never heard the voice before yet it sounded so familiar "si impuissant, vulnérable, pathétique. Je pourrais juste te manger." _

_ "I don't speak in tongues. Get off or you'll regret it." Arthur tried his best to sound as intimidating as possible but his courage was crushed as the voice laughed heartily.  _

_ "I want to leave." He said staring into the eyes. _

_ "Oui, you best wake up, whilst you still can." _

Arthur was woken up by Lukas shaking his shoulder. He jumped up catching his breath, Lukas looked at him suspiciously "We'll be there soon." He paused "Are you okay?" 

He sighed and calmed himself down "Yes, just a bad dream is all... because of Matthias talking about that stupid bloody snake. I'm fine" He thought he saw the faintest slither of a smile on Lukas' face as he stood up.

"He is quite the idiot" He kicked Matthias to make sure he was focused on the water and not just asleep. The Dane jumped up.

"Was just resting my eyes!" He blurted as Lukas rolled his eyes

"We're almost there, just focus on not crashing the boat please"

"Pssht," He stretched "I've done this loads of times, I know the way like the back of my hand" He smiled beaming with confidence which was immediately crushed when he felt the boat lurch. Lukas groaned as Matthias laughed nervously "It's just a sandbank it's fine" He repeated again and again as he managed to manoeuvre the boat off the sand bank.

"At least we're nearing land" Arthur sighed in relief. Matthias threw his arm round Lukas' shoulder

"Told you you could count on me to get him here safely, I do this like every week" He laughed as Lukas' snided him

"Safely isn't exactly the word I'd use" He pushed Matthias' arm off of him. The port was now in full view and Arthur could make out a few people walking around the dock. In a matter of minutes Matthias was tying the boat to the dock and Lukas was helping Arthur out of the boat. Arthur had never been happier to be back on land, his legs were still shaky from being on a rocking boat for so long. "You feeling good?"

"Much better now the ground isn't moving" Lukas smiled slightly as Arthur found himself becoming quite immersed in everything that was going on around him. Lots of different people walking around him carrying boxes and crates, boats coming and going and people talking in a tongue he wasn't familiar with. It wasn't the same language as whoever spoke to him in his dream, the words were harder but the voices more jolly. He saw as Matthias practically tackled someone carrying a crate of apples and yelled at them

"HAHAHA!! JEG SAVNEDE DIG!! HVORDAN HAR DU HAFT DET??" Matthias and the man punched each other playfully before spieling away to each other. Lukas shrugged it off

"This is his home town"

"Ah, makes sense. They're-"

"All loud and excitable like him? Yep." Arthur nodded slowly as Berwald dragged Matthias over to them. 

"Well," Matthias beamed "velkommen til Danmark! Trading capital of the world"

Lukas scoffed "That's so not true, Ned and his friends beat you to almost every por-" Matthias turns to Lukas and pouts

"Can you not let me have one thing? Anyway," He said turning back to Arthur "Let's get something to drink before you head"

"Getting drunk doesn't seem like a great idea," Berwald frowned.

"Fiiiiine, we can get some food too," Matthias replied as he dragged them to the town's market. 

Arthur had to admit he was thoroughly enjoying seeing the buzz of the busy marketplace. The people in the stalls, the women running errands and the kids playing around the square made Arthur reminisce about home. He leaned close to Matthias and whispered. 

"So, how come France hasn't touched any of this land?"

Matthias smiled and answered not so quietly "It's because they don't get along with everyone, they need people who'll take stuff from the Kingdoms they aren't on good terms with" Lukas sighed.

"But this won't last for long" Matthias looked at him with surprise

"Of course it will!"

"No, if the Dutch are faster than us then we'll be taken over as soon as they realise we aren't worth it" Matthias' smile faltered but he still kept up his happy façade

"Well, they're too dumb to figure that out for now" He pays for some food and the four of them go and sit in a booth in the tavern. Unlike back in the fae town, the tavern here was packed with loud and drunk Danes, the others didn't seem too bothered by this as they sat in the corner of the tavern and ordered some drinks. Lukas caught Arthur's attention as he pulled the magic compass out of Arthur's pocket.

"So. The compass right now is pointing to the French castle, if you follow the compass it will lead you down the German border and into France, I'd expect it to not be too heavily guarded as Germany and France are 'allies'. If possible avoid crossing into The Netherlands, and avoid going to Belgium and Luxembourg at all costs, The Netherlands is always crawling with French guards and Belgium is basically owned by France, if they found out what you're doing, you'd be kidnapped in a second." Arthur nodded along as Lukas continued "Your best hope is that they're too busy dealing with the Rebels so you can make it into France un-noticed. Once at the border it's about a three day walk to the capital wher-"

"Where you will march up and use your magic to kill everyone in the castle!!" Matthias jumped up and pretended to shoot magic out his hands "PEW PEW PEW! HAHAHA!" Arthur looked at the other two who looked beyond done with Matthias.

"Yes, if you wanted to be killed immediately. Wizards are few and dropping in numbers but it'd be naïve to assume that one of the world's most powerful empires doesn't have one in their ranks." Matthias paused for a minute before sighing and sitting down defeated.

"Then what's he meant to do, just chill in the Capital selling baguettes until the king just ups and dies?"

"No.  _ My _ advice would be to play the slow game. As France continues to grow so does their military, it'd be incredibly easy to enlist in the guards and get stationed around the city, so it wouldn't be hard to sneak into the castle and kill the king then," Arthur smiled, that didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"One problem," Berwald chimed in, Arthur looked at him puzzled "Antonio controls the military, you might blend into other guards but if he saw you, I think he'd recognise you." Arthur felt the colour drain from his face. 

"Well I definitely can't do that, I'd be skinned alive" Arthur frowned and the others sat for a minute thinking.

"Well, you could join the Rebels? I'm sure a sorcerer would be a great addition to the cause." Matthias said. 

Lukas rolled his eyes and snorted "The Rebels get killed basically everywhere they go, if they're the world's last chance we're fucked. Anyway, if they knew you were a sorcerer they'd probably put you at the front of every fight which is another great way to get killed pretty quickly," He sighed "You're more than likely to bump into the Rebels on your way there, if they engage with you, tell them you're too busy and just thank them. They. Aren't. Worth. Your. Time."

Arthur pondered for a minute "You taught me the transformation spell? I could always use that on myself, change up the hair and face a bit, then sneak into the military?"

"Can you _ actually _ do it?"

"Of course!" That was a lie. But he'd have more than enough time to figure it out. Lukas looked sceptical but smiled.

"Then that's your best bet. Unfortunately we have work to do on the docks so we can't come with you, believe me, we'd all love to but you have the book. If you need anything, please just write." 

"I will" He smiled.

"Good, for now, let's just eat and head to bed, we'll point you in the right direction to start travelling tomorrow" They all agreed and ate their food and booked into an Inn for the night. He thought it was nice since he knew he'd be sleeping rough until he reached France. Arthur lay still in the bed, listening to the snoring that was going on around him, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. Thankfully he managed to get to sleep and put the feeling of being watched down to paranoia, anyway he had more important things to focus on.

Next day they all walked to the edge of a village where there was a signpost pointing in four directions, Matthias pointed at the sign

"Follow the one that says 'Tyskland' that's how you get to the border, it's roughly a 2 day walk, once you get there follow any signs leading to 'Frankreich'" Arthur listened to Matthias as he gave vague directions of the best ways to go to get to Paris. Lukas could sense Arthur was worried.

"Remember you've got the compass and the book, you'll be fine"

Arthur felt slightly more confident knowing that if in doubt he could ask Lukas for help "Yeah, I'll be fine, the king will be crushed before you know it" He looked at the three and saw Matthias' lip trembling. He wrapped his arms around the rest of them, hugging them all together "I know we've only known each other for five days, but I'm really going to miss you!!"said Matthias Arthur was struggling to breathe but managed to cough out a thank you.

"Matthias get off of us, we can't breathe!" Lukas elbowed Matthias in the face trying to push him off but he didn't seem perturbed. Arthur could see Matthias had tears in his eyes as he eventually let go.

"If you die, I'm going to be seriously pissed." 

"I'm not going to die," Arthur smiled "I'm only going to kill the king, how hard can it be?" He chuckled and smiled.

"Well remember to write if you need any help"

"I will but I don't want to constantly bother you"

"You won't you're our friend! Friends are meant to annoy each other," He hugged Lukas smiling "But we also look out for one another!"

Berwald looked at them and muttered "Friends? sure." He received a glare from Lukas and Arthur burst out laughing. As cheesy as what Matthias said, Arthur didn't mind the sound of that, he had friends at home but they were all his brothers. He thought about those words  _ 'look out for one another!'  _ He remembered the fake façade Matthias had earlier, the fear in Lukas' eyes thinking about the village and how fondly Berwald thought of Tino and Peter. If he didn't succeed it wasn't just his family that were done for. This place would be taken over by the enemy, god knows what would happen to Matthias, Peter, Tino and Emil and if they found out about Lukas, Vlad or the fae. A surge of adrenaline ran through Arthur's veins, he waved goodbye to the others and set off in the direction of France, he had made a promise, and he was going to stick to it, even if he had to walk through hell to complete it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy, the next chapter will be up soon :)


	6. Warm Bed, Cold Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gives a little insight into the French Kingdom and how things are going for them :)

Matthew had been staring at the crackling fire for what seemed to be hours now. It's warm amber embrace made him feel calm, it soothed him watching the flames dancing helped to clear his mind. The room was warm, it's walls a blood red, instead of being hostile they came across as cosy, the paintings hanging in the room reminded him of a simpler time, portraits of him and his parents all smiling together, that was something they were good at, smiling. Even if they didn't want to. He was snapped out of his trance upon hearing his papa muttering to himself. Matthew stood up from the comfy armchair and slowly walked over to his papa who was sitting at his desk surrounded by letters and maps, his crown sat on the table next to his hands which were now covered in ink from all the letters. Matthew paused before sitting in the chair next to him.

"Papa, are you okay?" 

"Oui Matthieu, just tired" His father smiled. His eyes seemed tired, he had been sitting there almost the whole day. Matthew gently held his hand.

"Perhaps you can rest for now, come back in the morning, your thoughts will be clearer then and then w-" Matthew was cut short by the sound of clanking armour speeding down the hallway. Immediately Francis jumped up out of his chair and turned to the door to find Antonio standing at the door with a broad smile. Francis laughed and hugged the Spaniard

"Aha! You're here! Sit sit, I'll get us some wine!" Francis was filled with energy again at the sight of his old friend and Head of Military. Matthew gave Antonio a welcoming smile as Francis searched through the cupboard in search of a bottle of wine.

"Matthew, look at you, you've gotten tall," Antonio smiled "Taller than your old man now huh?" 

Matthew heard Francis mutter something about not being old and he laughed "yes, but that's not so hard" Francis pulled out a bottle and three wine glasses.

"Dear Matthieu, you wound me," He laughed as he poured them all a glass "Sit, Antonio, tell me everything" There was a light in Francis' eyes that Matthew hadn't seen in a while, Antonio had been away for almost four months and as he was constantly on the move it was difficult for him to write to tell them about what was happening but Matthew could see the excitement in his papa's eyes as soon as the conversation turned to his conquests.

"The barbarians have fallen, the island is basically ours, just a few strangler towns but that's nothing" Antonio reported with glee "To France!" Antonio proclaimed as they all drank their wine. Francis and Antonio were frequent drinkers and could stomach almost anything, Matthew however wasn't so he had to be careful of how much he was planning to drink. As much as he liked to see his papa happy, war talk was rather boring to Matthew, he focused his attention on the rain battering against the windows outside as the two continued to talk.

"We haven't heard from the East but we've moved South, taking up to the desert, the land there is tough, there isn't much we can do with it in all honesty. But, we have heard rumours about land to the West"

"What if you fall off of the edge?" Francis sipped at his wine completely enamoured in the conversation.

"But is that not a risk you're willing to take?"

"Oui of course but I don't want you on that ship, can't lose my Head of the Military" Antonio laughs

"Oh Francis, you think too highly of me" Francis chuckled and noticed a small bandage on Antonio's hand.

"What happened there? You fought off hundreds of soldiers without a scrape, what happened." 

"Ah this, it's nothing, just when we rounded up a Barbarian village someone shot me in the hand, it's not sore, just don't want it getting infected" Francis nodded looking up at Antonio.

"Did you?-"

"Si, I taught them a lesson about being ballsy, taught the whole town a lesson. It was the most fuss I got the whole time. I don't mind a bit of pain for some excitement" Francis laughed and patted Antonio on the shoulder as he heard footsteps coming down the hall yet again.

"Kesesese so you thought you could start drinking without me?" An albino man in royal attire waltzed his way into the room, Francis and Antonio got up and hugged the man as Matthew perked up a bit.

"Gilbert what a pleasure, I didn't know you were coming!" Francis ran to get another glass for the man.

"Well we heard news about you conquering the island and I thought it would be rude of me not to congratulate you" He immediately downed his glass of wine. Francis, Antonio and Gilbert had known each other since they were children, all sitting on a throne at one point or another. Unlike Francis, neither of them particularly enjoyed being king, Gilbert spent three months as King of Germany and hated it, it was too serious for him. He planned a royal fuck up so they'd give the crown to his younger, yet much more responsible brother Ludwig. Antonio was always paranoid of making the wrong decision so when Francis' kingdom had become incredibly successful and he had asked about perhaps merging their kingdoms together, Antonio didn't have to think about it twice. The three had an inseparable bond with one another that had withstood greed, success and lust for power. Of course they argued as all good friends do but these friends had one thing on their agenda, world domination.

The three drank late into the night, Matthew ended up fading into the background and when the clock struck midnight, he decided to excuse himself. He crept out of the room unnoticed, Matthew generally preferred to blend in and know more about others than they knew about him. Being Prince and being under scrutiny made that quite difficult but he was good at it nonetheless. The head housekeeper had helped his papa cover up the fact that he had murdered his parents when he was younger, hence her high position within the castle. Antonio had many secrets from back in Spain, however his drinking problem was not one that was difficult to spot. His papa had hundreds of secrets he'd never dare tell, not like he had any intention of anyway. Gilbert, for a man with such a big mouth he had quite a few secrets. 

Matthew turned the corner leading down the hall to his room when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he tensed but relaxed as soon as he realised who it was.

"Gilbert? Aren't you meant to be drinking with papa?" 

"Ja, but I never even got time to say hello to you," His usually pasty face was red due to his intoxication and Matthew sighed.

"You're completely out of it, go back or you'll miss Antonio talking about how he can kill five people with one swing of his sword."

Gilbert giggled in response "Ja, but Antonio doesn't let me do this" Gilbert despite being quite a few inches shorter than Matthew, pushed him up against the wall and locked lips with him. Matthew flushed red but pulled Gilbert in closer enjoying the taste of Gilbert in his mouth. They kissed for what felt like minutes until Gilbert pulled away to breathe, Matthew's heart was racing although he managed to keep a straight face.

"Touché but you couldn't even wait until we got to my room"

"Where's the fun in that?" Gilbert teased. Matthew checked to make sure there weren't any witnesses before pulling Gilbert to his room. Matthew had grown up knowing his papa like most rulers were open to trying whatever was offered to them, Matthew was no exception. It wasn't frowned upon in this Kingdom but it was still scandalous for a Prince and an ex-King to be together. However Matthew wouldn't exactly class him and Gilbert as a couple it was more; _ he visits every few months and sometimes we don't talk, sometimes we end up in bed, and I'm sure he's got a girlfriend in Germany anyway, hardly the picture of romance _ . However that didn't matter right now as Gilbert was fidgeting with his shirt buttons trying to pull them off the fastest. Matthew giggled and pushed him onto the bed where they enjoyed each other's company. Hours later they were laying on opposite sides of the bed, not facing each other, as if they were two children at a sleepover. Despite neither of them saying anything they both knew the other was awake.

"So," Gilbert started "How have you been?" Matthew could tell he had begun to sober up from earlier and now the awkward conversation would kick in. He was only fun when he was drunk,  _ maybe that's what he thinks of me too  _ Matthew wondered as he answered with a shrug.

"Taken more European land, soon there won't be much left-"

"Matthew, I didn't ask about the Kingdom, or your dad, I asked about you."

Matthew wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that ".....fine, I guess, you?"

Gilbert sighed, Matthew was never a shining picture of a social butterfly "Good. Is it one of those times?" Matthew simply nodded not even turning around. Gilbert rolled his eyes and sat up "Fine, fine" He leant over and kissed Matthew on the cheek before pulling his clothes back on "You know where I am if you need me" He headed to the door.

"Mhm... Good night"

"Night Matthew" Gilbert sighed as he left. Matthew frowned, he did really like Gilbert but he wasn't in the right headspace to be cuddled and kissed. His future kingdom was on the brink of world domination and yet Matthew still felt- empty almost. He'd always been a rather awkward kid, he loved his papa to pieces but even he couldn't figure out why Matthew always seemed so sad. He thought it might be the state of papa's kingdom, but that was blooming and he still felt empty. He hoped engaging with Gilbert would fill so hole in his chest and it made him happy but he still felt empty. He's lived many years and nothings changed, always empty. There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

"It's me m'lord can I come in?" 

"Yes, come in Maria" Matthew had always been fond of the portly maid, she had been a mother to him, just as she had been to Francis many year ago, the maid came in with a candle in hand as she dusted around Matthew's room, not really minding that Matthew's closed were scattered across the floor and his covers were a state. 

"Are you alright dear?" She asked as she picked up and hung up his clothes for him.

"Yes, just had a rough day" He sighed wrapping up in the covers even more, Maria could tell the young prince was upset.

"You remind me of your papa when he was younger than you, he had such sad eyes but look at how he's grown and brought our kingdom to fruition. You'll do us proud Prince Matthew" He looked up and smiled at her.

"Thank you Maria"

"No worries m'lord, you rest up. I'll leave you alone" She smiled and left the room after dusting it down.

Matthew had no plans of murdering his papa the way he'd done to his parents but he did admit that being compared to his papa, did make him feel better, even just a bit.

Gilbert had crawled back down to join Francis and Antonio. Francis poured him a drink, he didn't take much notice of it, Matthew was almost eighteen, he was big enough to make his own mistakes. Needless to say Francis thought Matthew was better than him in maturity as he had been gifted Matthew for his fourteenth birthday after making his own mistakes. Gilbert was a good friend of his, Francis fully expected their relationship to fail but he knew Gilbert would never do anything to intentionally hurt his baby. The conversation was still on war, as it almost always was, it was something that was ever changing.

"There's supposedly a band of Rebels hiding in the South of Germany but we haven't found them yet" Gilbert said as he got back to drinking his wine.

Francis grimaced "Take no notice of them, I just received a letter from the Tzar Ivan saying that he and the Emperor of China had designated one of China's islands as a prison for all the Rebels that they found. They've said we're more than welcome to use the island for any others we find."

"You sure we can trust him, you know he is known for all the heeby jeeby magic shit?" Antonio asked. Francis knew better than to fully trust Ivan as their kingdom was their biggest rival but if there's an easier way to get rid of the little pests he wasn't going to say no.

"And the fact that neither Ivan nor Yao like us?" Gilbert chimed in.

"They will have their reasons for this but if this gives us a chance to explore the East why not? It's just more land waiting to be conquered" Francis smirked as he went to pour some more wine only to realise that's the third bottle they've drank in an hour "C'est la vie.. Well," He looked at the other two "Tonight, we have drank. Tomorrow we will conquer." The other two nodded as Francis got up to deal with those stupid letters before heading to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm still not sure how I feel about this chapter, I'm torn between focusing solely on Arthur and then wanting to show other parts of the world, hope you guys liked it :) Next chapter should be out in a few days! Thank you for reading xx


	7. The Freedom Fighters

He had been walking for almost sixteen hours straight and was quickly running out of energy but he didn't fancy having to stop too often, he just wanted to get there. He definitely wasn't taking the scenic route. He had long since crossed into Germany and was beginning to appreciate the slightly warmer weather as he didn't need to particularly worry about dying of hypothermia during the night. He always kept his compass in his hand not wanting to stray an inch off of the path it was leading him down. He looked up at the ruby red sky as he could see the moon was beginning to appear in the sky. Despite being hundreds of miles from his home this was the calmest he had felt in a long time. His tiredness eventually caught up with Arthur and he scaled a tree to get some rest. In the far distance he could see a warm glow, alerting Arthur of the possibility of a village nearby, in the morning he could make a quick trip through. Arthur closed his eyes once settled in the trees, he listened to the sounds of the woodland creatures moving around him, light footsteps on the ground and the occasional sniffing noise, he wasn't sure what kind of creatures lived here but considering how nice the parts of Germany that he had seen looked he found it hard to picture any big monsters living there. 

Eventually the morning shone bright and Arthur stretched, he could see on the ground a few sets of footprints that weren't there last night, they must just be the villagers. He climbed down from the tree and took a swig of water from his flask before heading back into the woods in search of the village nearby. He enjoyed the sounds of the birds tweeting as he felt a gentle breeze blow through the trees. Today his spirits were rather high,  _ heading through this place isn't so bad,  _ he smiled admiring the vibrant colours of the flowers that were scattered around him,  _ maybe the scenic route wouldn't hurt?  _ he thought as he watched a bumblebee fly carefree to the flower to pollinate it. Arthur was disrupted from his thoughts by the sound of laughter in the trees to his left. He could hear the hustle and bustle of society not too far ahead but his curiosity was getting the better of him as he debated whether or not to check out the laughter.

Arthur walked quietly to the trees to his left and stood, as he heard people talking to one another. He listened quietly trying to figure out what they were talking about;

"I wouldn't mind staying here for a few more days, food's good, weather's nice, not many spiders" A muffled voice spoke, Arthur poked his head round subtly where he could see three men sat on the ground eating some bread. "What more could a man want?" Said a young man with dark hair and dark eyes but with a rather pale complexion, he definitely wasn't from here.

"Hahaha, not really the mentality you should have Leon," Laughed a tall, tanned man with dark brown hair and a beaming smile. He ripped apart his bread wrapping his arm around the third man who was a lot shorter but also had dark hair. "I miss all the exciting stuff!"

"I don't," the shorter one retorted "Every time we find anywhere that you think is "exciting" we normally end up almost dying"

"Oh shut it Zach, you'd be happy anywhere that has sheep" The man cackled.

"Well Jett, unlike  _ some people  _ sheep don't tend to have an attitude." Leon snickered at this remark as Jett frowned slightly.

"Yeah yeah whatever, anyway I'm sure there'll be plenty of sheep when we get to France" This piqued Arthur's interest,  _ they were heading to France, why? Oh Arthur come on, it doesn't matter not every traveller you meet is trying to destroy the monarchy.  _ He pulled away from the tree and sighed, he'd just go to the village and leave as planned. He brushed himself down and stepped away from the tree when two men dropped down in front of him.

"HAHAHA We knew you were eavesdropping on us!" A tall blonde man laughed as he pointed a long stick at Arthur "Which Kingdom sent you?!" He demanded. Arthur looked at the two men frantically, he thought about running as although the first guy looked rather slow and clunky, he didn't feel like taking his chances with the other, smaller man who had a blade to his throat.

"Kingdom?? I'm not from any Kingdom!" Arthur pleaded, raising his hands up. The two men looked at each other cautiously.

"Eagle will search him" The taller man pulled the stick away and the smaller man rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to use those stupid nicknames" 

"I do. And they are not." 'Eagle' pouted.

"Not when referring to yourself and they are, we all know each other" He showed no emotion but Arthur could tell the man was sick of 'Eagle'

"Zip it ferret. Anyway Jet- I mean Ox likes them" He seemed to turn his attention to 'Ferret' giving Arthur time to think of a plan of action, Arthur decided he could skip visiting the village if he could get a hold of the smaller man's sword.

"Yes, because he is as stupid as you are"

"Whateverrrr," The man turned his attention back to Arthur "Now, where were we?" He smiled. He went to pat him down when Arthur shot out a blast of green light sending both men flying back into the trees. They yelled in surprise which alerted the attention of the other three who got up and ran over. Arthur used his magic to lift all the gravel and pebbles off the ground before pelting the three with them. They hid behind the trees trying to avoid getting hit. Arthur turned and grabbed the sword, then the man got up and pulled it off of Arthur. 

"I don't want to hurt you but I will if you do not give me the sword"

"No. Why is a wizard wandering through the woods on his own?"

Arthur wasn't in the mood to answer questions so he shot a bolt of green lightning at the man, the green light flickered through the trees and Arthur was in shock when he saw the man use the sword to block the magic. Any regular weapon would have shattered into pieces, so there must be something magical about the sword. Even better for him if he could just pry it off of the other man. He threw him back into a tree again and he floated over to where the man lay clutching his sword. He held his hand out. 

"Give the sword to me." He spoke calmly, his eyes still vibrant, magic coursing through his veins. "This is your last warning, give me the swo-" Arthur felt the air get pushed out of his lungs as he was tackled by the larger man onto the woodland floor. Despite learning a lot about magic in the last week, his sense of awareness could be better. He gasped for air as the larger man pinned him to the ground face down.

"What's a wizard like you doing out here?"

"I c-can't fucking breathe!" He gasped, the man held him tight but released the pressure off of his chest allowing Arthur to get his breath back. 'Eagle' had his hands on the ground to stop him pulling another stunt like that. 

"Ki-Ferret are you okay?" 'Eagle' looked back trying not to sound like he was out of breath.

"Hai, thank you" He got up and joined them. Eventually after realising the rocks were no longer attacking them, the other three made their way over.

"Woah, well done mate, you handled that beating pretty well" Jett smiled.

"Thanks, it's what the hero does." 'Eagle' beamed looking back at Jett with a proud smile.

"I was talking about Kiku, but you too man, nice tackle" Watching his face drop made Leon burst out laughing as Arthur wondered who the hell these psychopaths were.

"whatever. Anyway, answer the question." The man frowned.

"Urgh, I'm on my way to France, the King of France needs a boot up his arse and I'm going to give it to him" The group all looked at each other in disbelief.

"You're.. being serious?" Kiku asked.

"Of course I'm being bloody serious. He had my village conquered, I'm not letting him get away with it! NOW WILL YOU PLEASE GET YOUR FAT ARSE OFF OF ME" He grunted becoming rather annoyed at the pressure on his lower back. The man pouted.

"No can do unless you promise to never do that shit again"

"I promise!"

"Search his bag to make sure he's not a secret guard" Arthur groaned as Jett and Leon rifled through his bag 

"Nothing but food, water, clothes and a few books" Jett said with his head basically stuck in Arthur's bag.

"Alright," 'Eagle' got off of Arthur and helped pick him up "We're the Freedom Fighters!" 'Eagles eyes lit up as he struck a heroic sigh, Kiku sighed.

"We're the Rebellion, please don't call us the "Freedom fighters""

"Keeks, you don't have to be so boring," The blonde rolls his eyes "You should join us if you're headed to France, that's where we're going" He beamed.

Arthur was still a little taken back " _ You're  _ the Rebellion?" 

"Yep."

"Hahahahahaha," 'Eagle' seemed slightly confused at Arthur's reaction " _ You're  _ supposed to be people's last hope?"

"Um.. yeah?"

"Hahahaha, no wonder Lukas told me not to go with you guys" He grabbed his bag "No thank you. I'll take my chances on my own even without that bloody magic sword" Kiku looked at his Katana.

"How did you know that it's magic?" 

"Well normally when you hit something with a ball of lightning it breaks. That basically absorbed all the impact. It's a good sword, keep that moron Eagle away from it." He frowned and turned to leave.

"Well I guess you don't want to know the  _ secret  _ way to the French Kingdom, that bypasses most of the guards?" Eagle smirked and Arthur paused. There was a fair chance the idiot was lying to get his attention but then again, getting passed all the guards without effort? Was that something he was willing to pass up on? "You know the one Ox" He nudged Jett.

"Oh yeaaah, that one, the way with the secret tunnel"

"Secret Tunnel?" Arthur scoffed. "You've got to be joking?"

"Nope, the old Rebellion helped build it before we were born but only us Rebels know about it" Eagle smirked. Arthur looked at the others trying to read their expressions to see if he was lying but they all looked like he was deadly serious.

"Urgh, fine, I'll come with you." The sentence had barely passed his mouth and he'd already regretted it. 'Eagle' wrapped his arm around Arthur's shoulders.

"Great, welcome to the Freedom Fighters! I'm in charge, they call me Eagle but my real name is Alfred- Oh! You need a nickname!" Arthur looked to Kiku to see if Alfred talking at seven hundred miles an hour was a regular occurrence. It seemed like it was. "What's your real name?" 

"Arthur, Arthur Kirkland." He stared at the man in disbelief as he spent the best part of four minutes trying to think of a nickname for Arthur.

"Got it, you're Rabbit," Arthur was not pleased. "I'm Eagle, Kiku's Ferret, Jett is Ox, Leon is Crane and Zach is sheep. Any questions?"

"Yes, why the nicknames?"

"Because! We're kind of wanted basically everywhere so we use nicknames when in public so that we don't get noticed"

"Wouldn't people recognise your face?"

"Names travel faster than faces, you knew who were were by our name, not our faces"

"Fair, I guess."

"Yeah, so we'd love for you to join us, but every Rebel has to go through an "initiation task" thankfully yours isn't too bad"

"Fucking hell, what is it?" Arthur frowned.

"Well, we've got a plan to go into the German castle and we've got a cover story but we're worried that someone would recognise us, so you'll go instead" He smiled.

"What? What would I even be looking for?" Arthur asked, a million questions running through his head

"Just- inspecting the vibe"

Kiku sighed "No, you'd be listening out for mentions of relations with other kingdoms, plans of expansion, stuff like that. The Royal Advisor will take you in, he thinks you're here to help decide on colour schemes for interior design"

"Colours and patterns?"

"Precisely. Just make conversation with him whilst you're "taking notes" and write down whatever he says. Obviously remember to be courteous as it's a castle"

Arthur nodded, he'd never been in a castle before, the prospect was kind of daunting "Where's this castle anyway?"

"Just through the trees"

"What, I thought that was a village?"

"Haha, no, the King's known to be a bit of a minimalist so it's quite small compared to some other kingdoms but when you get out there, you'll see how big it is. We've got like an hour until he arrives"

"Okay, and what exactly was your plan if I didn't show up?"

Alfred pulls a pile of dry soil and twigs out his pocket "We were going to give Jett a beard and a new accent. The guy is thick as a log we'd be fine" He smiled. Arthur couldn't help but laugh, no wonder there weren't many Rebels left. 

They all sat down on logs and drank some water, Leon looked up at Arthur "You said the French conquered your village?" Arthur nodded "Sorry, we know how that feels" The others lowered their heads.

"They conquered all of your lands too?"

"Oh no, not the French but our hit list is pretty long" Alfred chimed in.

"How so?"

"Well, Jett, Zach and my family kinda floated around the East but every place we settled would eventually fall under Russian power, ransacked villages, militarised cities, rivers ran red with the blood of innocents. So us three left to try and find somewhere better to live in the West, 'Land of Opportunity' yeah right. Well glad we did because next we heard that Russia had almost paused, no-one could go in, no-one could leave. Good chance the others are dead but that's why we're fighting" He sighed and Jett rubbed his back.

"We're determined to push Russia back so we can go home."

"I'm sorry to hear that, were you two the same?"

Leon frowns "China took over my country so I fled to Japan and met Kiku. Didn't last long as China threatened to isolate the island so we couldn't get any supplies unless we surrendered. The higher ups did but the people didn't. There were many revolts and resistances but they weren't giving up. They gassed most of the bigger cities, all the rioters disappeared. It was a ghost town for a while until the Rebels kicked up in Europe, so Russia and China agreed to send prisoners and Rebels to the toxic wasteland instead of prisons. They ruined our lives, our land and our future. They won't get away with it." Kiku nodded.

Alfred smiles "Well we made it to the West, we've been recruiting people all over, we've got a few hundred but Russia would just gun them down"

"Hundred? There's about five of you?"

"It's not just us, Kiku and I like to think we're in charge but there's tons of smaller groups scattered around Europe and Asia, just- waiting for the right time" He sat up.

"And- when  _ is  _ the right time?" 

The question hung uncomfortably in the air. Nobody really had an answer to that question but no-one wanted to admit that. After a few minutes of heavy silence Alfred piped up "We're not sure just now but we'll know when the time comes, we'll feel it" Arthur bit back a snarky remark and just sighed.

"Alright." The group fell back into silence for a few minutes until they could hear footsteps nearby. Alfred and Kiku got up and walked through the trees.

"Hello? Oh it's you, come on" They came back through the trees followed by a short man with brown hair and brown eyes "This is the guy, Arthur, famous European Interior Designer" Alfred smiled and Arthur got up and shook the man's hand.

"It's a pleasure" He smiled back at the man.

The man sighed "Oh thank goodness you came, I've been left in charge but colours aren't my strong point and I'm too indecisive" It was obvious to Arthur that the man was quite nervous so Arthur did his best to reassure the man.

"That's fine but I think your input would be rather helpful"

"You think so? Oh, my name is Feliciano, how rude of me" He laughed feeling slightly more relaxed.

" So Feliciano. Lead the way" Arthur smiled as Feliciano guided him out the trees and into the Castle grounds as the Rebels watched on anxiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know recently there's not been much action and chapter 8 has a lot of talking but I PROMISE chapter 9 has fighting, I swear 😓


	8. Interior Designs

The sound of talking became more and more prominent the closer Arthur and Feliciano moved into the open and he could see Arthur was quite interested by the magnitude of the city

"Not got a city like this where you live?" He smiled

"Not one like this.." Arthur replied as he followed Feliciano down the busy streets. The people merely waved and smiled as the two passed, Arthur could see a giant castle bigger than his entire village "Is that where we're going?"

"Mhm, but we can go in the secret entrance because the stairs can be a bit of a hassle" He laughed, Arthur thought,  _ maybe Alfred is right, he's empty between his ears.  _ As he followed Feliciano he continued to admire the wonderful architecture of the city. Every house was planned out and neat, the streets were clean and the castle looked pristine. Feliciano hummed to himself as he led Arthur round the side of the massive castle where there was a door hidden by some shrubbery. "Here it is, wait here for a minute" He beamed as he walked into the bushes and Arthur heard a clicking noise before the heavy door swung open. "Alrighty, follow me!" 

The hallway was dark and dusty but Feliciano seemed to know his way around as he navigated through the darkness with ease. Arthur struggled to keep up and managed to do so only because of the other man's incessant humming. Arthur had given up trying to remember which way was out through the labyrinth but eventually they reached another door. Feliciano heaved it open and Arthur saw they ended up in the castle's kitchen. 

"Ciao! It's just me!" He called stepping out, the cooks didn't take much notice of either of them as they were obviously focused on their own work. "So where do you want to start?"

"Erm, anywhere really, just need to get a feel for the place first" Arthur was winging this as he went along. Truth be told he didn't know what an interior designer was but he made a lucky guess with 'colours and shapes'. He could see Feliciano was dumb, he just hoped he was dumb enough not to notice if Arthur slipped up. Felciciano led him to the main hall.

"This is the main entrance, the throne room is on the right, I'll show you in there in a minute, what do you think?" Feliciano was really hoping the man liked the castle as he knew how much the King liked to make good first impressions

"This place looks marvellous, very spacious but still- very welcoming" Arthur was raking through his brain looking for any expressions he could think of, Feliciano seemed happy with that response

"I'm glad you think so, I've been telling the King the only real thing this place needs is a bit of colour for years!" Feliciano sighed. "Anyway, let me show you the Throne Room" He pushes open the door to a giant room with three Thrones at the end. Arthur could see the walls were awfully bare, no paintings or colour, just some black and white banners.

"Yes, I can see that colour is definitely needed, can you tell me a bit about the King so I can get a feel of him?" 

"Si, si! He's tall with platinum blonde hair which he always has swept back. He's fairly muscley and tends to talk slowly so that people can understand him through his accent, he keeps up a very stern look but he tends to get embarrassed quite easily, he's a kind and gentle soul, he really likes dogs, his favourite colour is red and he has the most gorgeous sky blue eyes."

"..........Riiiight, sticking to interests, he likes dogs? Anything else?" Arthur said trying to turn the conversation slightly as he saw Feliciano going rather red.

"Mhm... Well, he likes sports? He enjoys sword fighting, he loves to read and he speaks five languages."

"Oh that's quite impressive, which five?"

"German, Italian, English, French and Russain," Feliciano turned to the throne "He likes to be able to understand what people are saying about him when he visits other Kingdoms. He's very smart don;t you think?"

"Certainly, I don't think I would have even thought of that"

"Ludwig thinks of everything, he's a serious over-planner and over-thinker. He's- I wouldn't say paranoid, but he likes to make sure he's thought of every possible outcome before he makes a decision"

"He thinks with his head rather than his heart?"

"Si! Exactly"

"Mhm... if you don't mind me asking, your accent sounds different from the others here, where are you from?"

"Ah, originally I'm from Italy, me and mio fratello moved to Spain when we were younger, he was in the seminary, worked his way up, ended up serving in the King's Cathedral before Antonio , you know, handed his power over toKing Francis. He went with the king to France and still works there, they offered to let me join them but I politely declined. I had seen Ludwig whenever they came to a mass in Spain and we got along pretty well, so he offered me a position here. Best decision I've ever made, it's much better here anyway. You wouldn't think it but the King does have a strong heart. He says even though I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed I still give good advice" He laughed fondly thinking about it.

"Yes, the King does sound like a very kindhearted man, especially being in his position of power" Feliciano nods

"Come on, let me show you upstairs" Feliciano said as Arthur scribbled down in his book everything Feliciano had said about the King.

"Does the King have any- enemies or any Kingdoms he's close to so I can reference their colour scheme?" Arthur questioned as Feliciano showed him around the King's bedroom which was absolutely unnecessarily huge.

"Well, the King's brother is good friends with France but, Ludwig tries to separate himself from them as he doesn't agree with what they're doing. Honestly, Ludwig tends to keep to himself if he can" Arthur nodded along as Feliciano spoke, they inspected the rooms, the bathrooms, the chapel, the dining hall, the servants quarters and the guest rooms. Arthur wasn't sure how many rooms were needed in one castle. They stopped for a break in the library which Arthur admitted was quite nice. He liked the bookshelves that were several stories high, the gigantic windows that gave a full view over the whole Kingdom.

"Right, before I start did you have any ideas?" Arthur sat at one of the tables with his book out ready to write down whatever Feliciano said.

"Si, so I was thinking the hallway should keep rather plain but with paintings but should the rooms be crimson or terracotta?" He looked to Arthur intently who confidently answered 

"Crimson is always a good choice"

"See, that's exactly what I thought! But then I started doubting myself, I knew Crimson would look better, more homely looking" Feliciano rambled on as Arthur tried to figure out how to spell Crimson. As he scribbled on the pages, he began to see ink bleed through onto the book.

'Crimson as in the shade of red'

_ oh shit.  _ Arthur thought as he quickly checked the front cover of the book only to realise it was the magical book Lukas had gifted him before he left, Feliciano rambled on "And then in the bathroom a complimentary yellow or pink?"

"Oh erm, yellow would match better I believe, it would make it more stark" He scribbled yellow onto the page only to be met with question marks. He quickly wrote;

'can't talk now, picked the wrong book, I'm not in any trouble, don't worry' Thankfully there was no response. Arthur looked up to see Feliciano stand up and bow, Arthur quickly followed suit as he saw a tall, rather muscley man with slicked back platinum hair and admittedly nice blue eyes standing at the door.

"Feliciano," the King spoke calmly "You didn't tell me we were going to be having a visitor?" 

"Right, this is the interior designer I'm getting advice from, his name is Arthur" Feliciano grinned as he motioned to Arthur.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness" He bowed curtly again and Ludwig nodded

"The pleasure is mine, I'm sorry I'll leave you two to finish your discussion, I am simply here to find a book" The King walked in, his movements slow and rigid, Arthur could tell the King was on edge and Feliciano and Arthur sat back down. The sound of metal clanking down the hall caught the trio's attention and they looked to the door. 

"Bruder guess who's back!" The albino royal ran into the room and practically knocked Ludwig over in a hug. Arthur looked to Feliciano one eyebrow raised. Feliciano mouthed 'the King's Brother'  _ ah, okay better keep my mouth shut around him.  _ Arthur thought to himself as he watched the King pry his sibling off.

"I thought you were staying for a week?" Ludwig asked fixing his hair.

"I was but turns out Antonio's heading back out and Francis has some meetings, thought it would be boring to sit around doing nothing" Gilbert smiled looking at the books he'd knocked over "But I guess you were just gonna read while I was gone anyway, that's all you ever do"

"It is not, I just enjoy a good book"

"Laaaammmeee" Gilbert groaned only then turning to see Feliciano and Arthur watching him. "Hey Feli, who's this?"

"He's an interior designer giving me some advice"

"Did you show him my room?"

"Yes?" 

"Great, I've been thinking black or maybe Prussian Blue, something dark and brooding so I stick out even more" Gilbert laughed and looked at Arthur who cleared his throat.

"Prussian Blue with grey accents on furniture" Arthur stated. Gilbert paused.

"Ja, sounds awesome, Feli can you do that?" He nodded "Kesesese, great, also where are you from you sound weird."

Arthur momentarily panicked, trying to think of a plausible answer "Denmark, live up by the ports"

"Ahh, course you do. I'd recognise a Danish accent anywhere" Gilbert proclaimed smugly "Well I've got to unpack, work on that Prussian blue Feli!" He called as he left quickly

"I will!" He gasped "Oh dear, I don't even know if we have any in stock, please excuse me for a moment" Feliciano got up much to Arthur's dismay and left closing the door behind him. Arthur sat in silence, it was horrible, the only sound was the rain that had started about twenty minutes ago now hitting against the window. 

"Do I look dumb to you?" Ludwig said, Arthur turned to find the King staring him down.

"P-Pardon? No of course not sir"

"Then why are you lying? You're from the island, unlike my brother I actually know what a Danish person sounds like."

Arthur sat for a minute contemplating whether or not to tell Ludwig the truth. He doesn't like the French either but he might not  _ hate _ them. He took a deep breath "You're right. I'm from the island, I was making my way to France to try and talk to the King-"

"Good luck with that, The King would eat you alive. He plays games with his little victims"

"We all have a few cards up our sleeves." Ludwig looked at Arthur suspiciously

"He is not someone who will be reasoned with, believe me, I've tried."

"I've been informed your brother is an ally of his, yet you- aren't?"

Ludwig frowned "Nein, he and I don't see eye to eye"

"On world domination?"

"...Ja. There's three mega powers all fighting to rule as much as they can. It won't end well for two out of three parties. However a good friend of mine suggested staying neutral in conflicts and so far it has worked. I wouldn't jeopardise the lives of my citizens due to lusting after more power."

Arthur smiled "From what I've heard, you're the only level headed royal around at the minute" Ludwig scoffed.

"It sometimes does seem that way. Obviously this conversation will not be leaving this room?" Arthur nodded "Good. It's hard to stand back and do nothing whilst they slay all those innocents but sometimes doing nothing is the best option but I don't know how much longer I can."

"Sir, I  _ truly  _ believe I can talk some sense into the King, you just have to hold out a little longer. Your sign of resilience is not going unnoticed. I promise you, you are doing the right thing, even if it feels like it isn't."

Ludwig took a deep breath "I hope it is. What is your full name?"

"My name? It's Arthur Kirkland." They both stopped their conversation as Feliciano burst into the room completely out of breath. Ludwgi ran over and grabbed him helping to get his breath.

"S-S-SI-SIR!"

"Yes Feliciano breathe, tell me what's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"There's intruders in the castle!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I PROMISE the next chapter will have more action. Thank you for the kudos and for reading my fic, I really appreciate it. See you soon!


	9. A Royal Rumble

He stood frozen in place, looking down at Feliciano who was gasping to get his breath.

"Intruders?" Ludwig gasped "Where are they?"

"T-The guards are taking care of them," Feliciano stammered. Arthur finally found the strength to move as he ran to the door and looked down the hall "They went straight for your brother"

Ludwig sighed "He has a tendency to bring trouble with him wherever he goes, are you alright?" Feliciano nodded as Ludwig helped him to calm down. "You stay here with Arthur and I'll go down with some extra guards to check it out"

"But it won't be safe!"

"It will, I'll be fine and so will you, won't he Arthur?" He turned to get some reassurance from Arthur only to find he had run.

Arthur raced down the hall and to the stairs where the sound of fighting was becoming louder and louder. He sped down the steps where he saw Gilbert with a bloody nose being escorted away by three guards in the opposite direction. In front of him were Alfred, Kiku and the others fighting with the guards. As stupid as they were, they were half decent at fighting and Arthur realised that as he watched Kiku take down four guards with one swipe of his katana. He ran down and tried to pull Alfred away from several guards.

"What are you doing?" He yelled only to be met with a laugh.

"We saw Gilbert, couldn't resist _the chance_ to punch him in his smug-assed face!" Alfred cackled. Arthur rolled his eyes

"Right, yes, you've had your fun but he's sending more guards so let's go!" Arthur pleaded tugging on his arm. Alfred looked back at the others who were finishing off the remaining guards.

"Alright. Follow me we're leaving!" Kiku nodded and the group ran through the castle and out into the courtyard where they were faced with more guards. They stopped in the middle to find they'd been surrounded completely. _Shit, what are we going to do?_ Arthur thought to himself. He looked around to see at least fifty guards, he knew he could probably take out a few with a spell but if he fired at a section of them, the other guards would catch on and incapacitate him before he could be of any proper use to the others.

"Well well well," Gilbert said smirking "Look at these losers captured in our courtyard!" He laughed whilst standing behind a secure row of guards on a balcony a safe distance away. Ludwig joined his brother on the balcony. Arthur looked at Alfred to see if he had any idea of what to do. Being met with a blank stare Arthur frowned and assumed he would have to try his luck with some magic. He steadied himself and pulled magical energy to him until in one swift motion, Alfred grabbed him and twisted Arthur's arm behind his back and put the smaller man into a choke hold.

"Let us go. Or we'll kill your interior designer!" Alfred demanded.

"GET OFF OF ME YOU BLOODY WANKER!!" Arthur shouted back struggling to breathe in the position he was being held. Arthur looked up to see Ludwig's cold gaze staring back down at him. He got a flicker of hope as he saw Ludwig turn to whisper to his brother. He was so relieved he momentarily forgot about the struggle of breathing but was quickly reminded as his vision began to get blurry.

"I'm being serious." Alfred growled. Arthur tried kicking his shins to get him off, Alfred thought Arthur's 'performance' was pretty believable, especially when he went limp in his arms. Alfred felt a searing pain in his leg as he realised he'd been shot by an arrow. He dropped Arthur and Kiku immediately swung at the guards knocking several back. _This is what I've been waiting for, I'll show them that the Freedom Fighters are not to be messed with!_ Alfred smirked as he looked to Kiku who gave him an affirming nod to the move they had been perfecting recently.

Jett, Leon and Zach ran to Alfred and crouched at his feet holding their weapons out as Kiku ran up and jumped onto Alfred, Alfred grabbed at his feet and using the momentum swung round faster and faster and as the guards began to close in Kiku had no trouble in whacking them back with his katana. It was surprisingly effective, but that might have had something to do with the katana being magic. They spun so fast no guards could get close and if they did, the other three would take out their ankles before they could do anything. Eventually all of the guards had been forced back and were lying on the floor passed out. Alfred slowed down and let go of Kiku who landed on his feet perfectly. Alfred smirked, if Gilbert hadn't been an albino he was sure all the colour would've drained from his face. 

However Gilbert raised his arm and all the guards on the balcony drew their bows, _oh so that's where the arrow that hit me came from_ Alfred thought. They decided they'd made their message clear pretty quickly. Alfred scooped Arthur over his shoulder and despite his sore leg, they managed to run out the castle gates without being impaled by the raining arrows. They sped out being chased by a new collection of guards

"Oi mate!" Jett called "Let's split, we can confuse them and meet back at the 'rendezvous point'?" He looked to the others.

"Alright," Alfred called "Ox, Sheep, you two together, Ferret you and Crane head the other way, I'll take Rabbit." The group nodded and split off into their three groups. Jett grabbed Zach's hand and practically dragged him through the cobblestone streets. They could hear shouting from behind and knew that more and more guards would soon give chase.

"Shit mate" Jett muttered as he pulled Zach through the many alleyways of the city. This place was basically a labyrinth, Jett hoped that by changing direction frequently the guards wouldn't know which way they were going and wouldn't be able to predict their moves. Which seemed to be working as with each turn they took the sounds of guards was becoming fainter Jett turned right at a fork in the street and ended up running into a dead end. "Fuck, we need to head back"

"We can't. They'll see us"

"Then what do we do?" Jett asked nervously hearing the noises get louder again. Zach pointed to a bunch of barrels in the alleyway and he and Jett ripped the lids off and jumped in as the voices got even louder. They put the lids on loosely as three guards turned into the alley. The guards inspected the alleyway to try and see if they were hiding, one guard had nudged one of the barrels.

"Check them." He said. Jett and Zach were ready and waiting for the unfortunate guards to open the barrels. One of the guards took the lid off and Zach leapt out with a knife, he jumped onto the guard and put all his weight on the man. When the other two readied to attack, Jett jumped out of his barrel. He used the lid as a shield and pushed one of them into the wall of the alley, before using it to smash against his leg which made an uncomfortable crunch. The man yelped and slid down the wall as Jett turned to the other man before clattering him around the head with the lid knocking him out cold. Zach had his guard pinned to the floor. He used the butt of the knife to smash against the man's head which effectively knocked him out. 

"Suit up, we'll blend in better" Zach sighed. Jett didn't waste any time stripping the men to their underwear, they both pulled the heavy uniform over their heads and fussed with the trousers, trying to pull them on. Jett was startled by hearing the third man whimpering. He frowned. He bent down and took two strips of torn tunic rags and tied them together before tying it round the guards knee.

"I know your leg isn't cut off or anything but I'm not too sure what to do with a broken knee, hope this helps." He said as he tightened it around the man's knee, who looked up at Jett confused.

"You're- helping? You're meant to kill us" He muttered

Zach frowned and finished getting ready as Jett laughed " Why would we do that? We're the Rebellion, we fight against the Royals. The guards, well you guys are an issue but why would we kill you, you're probably only here to help feed your family. Anyway if we killed everyone then we'd be as bad as the royals sending you to your deaths on the battlefield. From what I've heard the Beilschmidt are quite lenient rulers but god forbid you lived in the East. We want people to know we're fighting _for_ them, killing any villager or guard who got in our way would be disproving that" Jett smiled as he stood up. The guard was evidently shocked with his response.

"Your friends will be fine, just a headache and a loss of uniform, could be worse" Zach remarked as Jett pulled away.

"Yeah, now stay here and don't tell anyone about this, please" Jett smiled as they left the bewildered guard sitting on the floor of an alleyway.

Kiku and Leon decided to take another route, Kiku had boosted Leon up against one of the houses and they had scrambled to the roof.

"Less chance of them following us up here but it's more likely they'll fire arrows at us. Try and find something you can use as a shield" Kiku said, scouting out the guards.

"Can't I just use you?" Leon laughed trying to find anything to cover him decently. He heaved and lifted up a very large roof tile "It's heavy but it covers me?" Kiku simply nodded in response, Leons shield worked as an arrow shot at it was immediately deflected onto the other roof tiles. Kiku started running with Leon, closely followed by the arrows and archers down below. They were the fastest in the group and had no trouble jumping from roof to roof. Dying leaves had littered the rooftops making them very slippery for the two as they basically glided across the city's roofs. Jumping across a small alleyway Kiku heard a loud crash behind him as Leon slipped and fell down into the alley. Kiku watched him anxiously as he got up again, he didn't like how quickly the German guards were approaching as he reached his hand down for Leon to grab onto. The Guards rounded the corner but Leon had jumped and grabbed Kiku's hand and was quickly pulled up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, it's just hard to get any traction up here" Leon frowned. The Guards continued to fire up at them but Leon had an idea. He began to stomp one foot on a row of roof tiles. Kiku watched on, impressed as the tiles eventually became loose and slid down crashing onto the Guards below. Most had dodged them but it served as the momentary distraction they needed to get running again. The two continued to travel by rooftop until they spotted that up ahead some guards had managed to climb onto the next houses' roof to try and get them. However the two didn't stop and simply jumped across into the guards. Mid- jump Kiku swung so his leg was above his head and brought it down on one of the unlucky guards. Leon and Kiku landed back to back and used their fighting experience to push most of the guards back. One guard grabbed Leon by the hair and pulled him away, Kiku turned to help him as an arrow flew past his head. He turned to be faced with a guard holding a crossbow. The man seemed calm although his hands were shaking.

"Stop." He said trying not to let his fear get the better of him. Kiku did so, only to think of a plan before ducking and swiping at the man's feet. He could hear Leon grunting next to him but he was more focused on getting the crossbow off the man. He sheathed his katana and pinned the man down by the neck with it. He pressed hard enough to make breathing difficult but not hard enough to crush his windpipe. The man's face turned a light shade of blue before Kiku quickly eased off the pressure. Seeing the colour return to his face he turned his attention to Leon, who had his fingers jammed against the last guard’s throat. He held the pressure point gently as the man went limp on the roof. 

"Is that all of them?" Leon asked, getting up.

"Hai. By the looks of it.." Kiku replied bending down to inspect the arrow.

Leon walked over and looked down "What's wrong?"

"They've been laced, looks like poison." He frowned. "We need to hurry."

Alfred had tried to shake the continuing dizziness as he assumed it was either due to him spinning Kiku or from running for the past ten minutes whilst having to carry Arthur over his shoulder. Alfred could feel his legs beginning to shake but he couldn't let up, there were still guards following him quite closely, now was **not** the time to get all shaken up. Quickly he made the decision to turn into a tavern and run straight through it and out the back, hoping the guards would be distracted by the rowdy Germans drinking inside. He continued to run his chest hurt and his perception was blurry but he kept travelling, down alleyways and cobbled streets until he found a small hideaway in an alley. He put Arthur down next to him as he literally collapsed against the wall. His mind was racing and he felt like he'd be sick. 

It was only then he looked down at the arrow in his leg, "Shit.." He thought to himself as he pulled it out. He had begun shivering violently but was trying to stay calm "in through the nose, out through the mouth" He muttered to himself repeatedly. He could feel his palms were sweaty as he tried to pull himself up,only to find himself unable to rise. Moving was becoming difficult. This was bad. He could hear the clanking of armour approaching as he tried to force his body to move. He managed to reach for his pocket knife but he could barely hold it once he got it out. He saw four guards walking down the street. The shivering foreigner and unconscious man stuck out like a sore thumb in the seemingly empty city. They rushed over to him as Alfred fumbled with his pocket knife. 

"Stay 'way.." Was all Alfred could muster, feeling himself slipping out of consciousness very quickly. The Guards seemed to find this rather amusing as they slapped Alfred across the face. If it weren't for the fact he was already seeing double, the stars he could see would seem weird. He gritted his teeth and looked at the guards. _If I could reach them, I'd win. Come on, move._ He urged himself but with no success. The cynical guards continued to taunt Alfred with kicks and waves of their spears.

"Alright, come on, pick him up" Alfred felt helpless, he could barely move and he was about to be imprisoned. He at least hoped he'd throw up on one of them if they picked him up. It was then that Arthur had finally come around after being choked earlier. His head was spinning but as he looked up to see the guards, he knew he could complain about it later. The Guards reached for the two men but Arthur protested.

"What the fuck are you doing?" 

"Shut up." The guard laughed as they lifted them up. Arthur looked to see Alfred barely staying awake and unable to move. He knew what he had to do. Arthur managed to kick his way off of the guard. 

"Put him down, you have one chance."

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do?" The guards laughed.

Arthur smirked "I was really hoping you'd say that." His eyes lit up as he made a surge of magic hit against the cobblestones. The alley began to shake and warp as it wrapped around the men, swallowing them up to their waists in stone. They understandably screamed as Arthur laughed maniacally, enjoying his power a little too much. The magic stopped and Arthur ran over and using his foot to push off of the guards head, he managed to pry Alfred out of his grip. _Jesus, he was bloody heavy_ he thought as he picked him up. However upon closer inspection Arthur realised that wasn’t the biggest issue right now. Looking at the almost dead Alfred he breathed.

"Fuck, you need some serious help." 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter jumps around a lot but I've been trying to give different perspectives on the story and the next chapter focuses on Romano~~ Hope you enjoyed and thank you for the kudos! :)


	10. Una Palabra de Dios

_ It was a quiet day, _ he had thought whilst cleaning up the altar. He paused to look up at Jesus hanging on the cross as he bowed. He brought the chalice and the bread down from the Altar and took it into the sacristy. He always preferred the quieter days, he had time to be lost in his own thoughts. Running the main Cathedral for one of the world's biggest empires meant he didn't get many 'quiet' days but mass was calm today. Not too many people, not too much noise. Good. He carefully put the chalice away, it was 10 o'clock in the evening which meant Romano was going to clear the altar properly, say his night time prayers before heading to bed, he had already locked the doors, or so he thought.

As he stepped out he saw Antonio knelt down in the third pew from the front, rosary beads in hand. Romano frowned "You missed it, mass is over already"

"Is a man not allowed to come here to pray?"

"Not whilst I'm putting everything away."

"Churches are meant to be welcoming" Antonio spoke calmly never opening his eyes or standing up.

"Yeah well, this is a Cathedral and I was just about to lock the doors."

"You forget that Francis gave me a spare key" 

"Of course he did." Romano muttered, heading back to the Altar to finish cleaning up, as he bowed he sighed "Please give me strength." Antonio heard that and chuckled.

"You don't enjoy my presence?"

"Not particularly, no." He stated bluntly

"That's rude"

"And?"

"Ouch Romano, the whole thing about this is to love each other, what do you mean and?" Antonio smiled cracking an eye open and sitting back on the pew.

Romano sneered "Mark 7:18" Antonio grabbed his Bible and flicked through until he reached the paragraph.

"After the parables of the last point, Jesus was asked by his disciples the meaning of his words. Jesus responded, " **Are you as dull as the rest?** "" He frowned and Romano smirked. "I've never known Priests to be the funny type"

"Yes well you've made the point that I'm not like other priests" 

"Yeah, you've got a nice ass"

Romano gagged "Disgusting. Do you honestly just come here to torment me?" He questioned putting the last things in the sacristy. He took his chimere and cassock off and came out again.

"Sometimes," Antonio mused "However sometimes I do come to pray and get lost in my thoughts" Romano could see Antonio's expression harden and he sighed before coming to sit two pews in front of him. He looked at Antonio, his green eyes usually filled with excitement and light seemed dull and depressing. Romano thought Antonio seemed generally quite depressed today.

"Do you need to Confess something?"

He paused "Si." Romano nodded and they both got up and headed over to the confessional box. They closed the door and Antonio sighed "Forgive me father for I have sinned"

"And why is that?"

"I have done many wrongs in my life and-"

"Why are you confessing  _ today  _ please."

Antonio paused, he was used to the Priest's rude attitude after years of enduring it but he simply started again. "I have done many,  _ many  _ wrongs in my life," He heard Romano sigh and continued "And I have never really felt too bad about them but recently I've been helping to expand the French Empire and it's amazing!"

"Then why are you here?"

There was another pause "I find myself, enjoying it too much" He trailed off

"Enjoying what?"

"The power, the feeling of being in control. I never remembered having these feelings when I was King, so why now?"

Romano sighed and thought carefully trying to pull an answer that wouldn't sound too mean "You enjoy the feeling of power?"

"Not just that Romano.... the Blood lust. The thrill of fighting, the adventure, everything! I get so excited before a battle and it feels wrong." He frowned

"That's because it is fucking wrong." He didn't try to hide the disgust in his voice "You should not be taking pleasure in killing people. With your job, I understand sometimes it is a necessary evil but that doesn't mean it's the best option for everything. Negotiation can also work"

"Not when they've got knives to our throats"

"Urgh Antonio what do you expect me to say?" He groaned and Antonio frowned "You're lusting over death and power. Pretty damn sinful if you ask me."

"I know Romano.."

He took a deep breath and sighed "You take your Bible with you when you go to war?"

"Si."

"Then before every rash decision you make,hold your Bible and ask 'What would God want me to do'"

"I- never actually thought of that"

"Exactly, it should help you to make more rational decisions and take your mind off of the blood lust"

"You always know what to say Romano, sometimes it's nice to just hear some advice"

"That is what I'm here for, and you've confessed to worse. You used to kick people outside so you'd have an excuse to come and confess just so you could talk."

Antonio laughed "I do remember that yes"

"Mhm, time's are changing, you are too. Just, please don't let power corrupt you. I'd be bored shitless if you weren't here to annoy me all the time"

"You mean it?"

"Of course not! But don't go being stupid and being a sheep. Deep down you're a good person Toni, I can see that much. I know it can be hard to speak up especially in the presence of dumber and dumbass but you really should try to get some sense into their thick skulls". Antonio snickered. 

"You're right Romano"

"Of course I'm right. Now is there anything else?"

"Well.... there was something. I've been having.... sinful dreams-" 

He was cut off by Romano bursting out laughing "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA are you- being serious?"

"Si... very.."

Romano took a few minutes to stop himself laughing "Oh you are funny.  _ You,  _ who hangs around with the King of France, in the French Empire, are worried about 'sinful dreams' hahahahaha, you really crack me up." Antonio looked away.

"Well as you said, not everything he does is right"

"Yes but you're fine. I'd like to think God's stand on that might have changed since the Bible was written, I mean if I can be a Priest I wouldn't be surprised God's okay with it. Relax Toni, it's fine. As long as they're human." He lingered on that last sentence "You do mean humans don't you Antonio?"

"Yes!! My God course I mean humans!!" Antonio replied exasperated.

"Good, because  _ that is a sin.  _ Also another sin, using the Lord's name in vain."

"Thank you Romano"

"Yes well, it is my job. Now, your penance is twenty Hail Mary's and twenty Our Fathers for wasting my time. No thirty Our Fathers, for your little remark earlier. Confession is over" He got up and left the box closely followed by Antonio. He watched as Antonio sat back in the pew

"Hail Mary full of Grace the lord is-" Antonio sat peacefully and recited his penance fairly quickly. Romano was waiting for him to finish so he could lock the door,  _ couldn't have told him to do this at home could you?  _ He sighs, standing at the door. The Spaniard got up from the pew and walked to the back of the church where Romano was stood. Romano looked away from him but sighed

"When did you get back?"

"A few days ago but I'm leaving soon"

"Course you are."

"I have to Romano, it is my job. You have the job of teaching the people, I just need to get a hold of them for you. The Lord would be proud of what we are doing"

"You're telling  _ me  _ what  _ you  _ think the Lord would enjoy?" Romano seemed rather offended "You can tell that to him when you're stood at the gates of heaven with the blood of innocents on your hands."

"You said it yourself, necessary evil."

"Well if you weren't such a pushover you wouldn't be in this position at all!" He glared as Antonio leant in close to him.

"You have some nerve talking to me like that you know." He breathed, spitting his words like venom. Romano simply rolled his eyes.

"You hurt me. Such a pious man, tainted by power and false promises."

"Francis would have you hanged if he heard you saying that"

"I do not fear death, as I know that when my time comes I will be accepted into Heaven for my life and good deeds. Can you  _ honestly  _ say the same thing?"

Antonio stared into his brown eyes, not seeing the usual angry or condescending expression. Romano was being deadly serious and he knew that. He backed off. "A job is a job, I hope the Lord can understand that."

"Me too," Romano said as he let Antonio out the door "Antonio?" He asked. Antonio turned to look at him. 

"Si?"

"Leviticus 19:18" He said quietly as he closed the door and locked the Cathedral up for the night. Antonio stood quietly as he opened his bible to the heading.

"“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I  _ am _ the LORD.”" He read over the passage a few times before sighing and glancing back once more to the Cathedral "Oh Romano, if only it were that simple”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'd think 8 years of Altar serving would've helped, nope!   
> The next chapter will be out tomorrow, Hope you enjoy, thank you for continuing to read :)


	11. An Overlooked Hero

Arthur checked that Alfred still had a pulse and fumbled around trying to find the others. He wasn't fully familiar with all healing spells and he'd have to contact Lukas to find a way to help Alfred but his book was back at the campsite and he had no idea where he was at that moment. He ran as fast as he could whilst carrying Alfred's limp body, it was hard to run on the uneven cobblestone but he tried his best to not fall. He sped down the streets looking for any exit into the forest. He was startled when Kiku and Leon jumped down in front of him.

"He's dying or something"

"He's been poisoned, can you help him?"

"I need to write to Lukas but my book is at the campsite" Arthur stammered frantically. Kiku nodded and picked Alfred off of Arthur and sped off. Arthur and Leon followed close behind, they still had to be wary of guards but time was now their biggest enemy. The sky was getting dark making it even harder to navigate through the city. Kiku had to trust his gut as he sped through the twisting streets of the city. Any guard they passed was quickly taken care of by Leon and Arthur, they could finally see a clearing in the distance. Arthur had never known someone who could run so fast and he struggled to keep up with Kiku but being able to see the trees in the distance gave him the boost he needed as they ran into the forest. 

Jett and Zach were sitting at the campsite adorned in the guards clothing "Oi mate, what's going on?" Jett called as Kiku ran over and laid Alfred down on his back but had his head tilted to the side in case he threw up. 

"He's been poisoned," Kiku muttered as he checked Alfreds pulse. Arthur rummaged through the campsite for his book and then it hit him. He'd left in back in the Beilschmidt castle. 

"Fuck fuck fuckfuckfuckfuck" Arthur panicked, Kiku looked up at him

"Where is it?" 

"It's in the library back at the castle!"

"Hey, relax, we can go and get it, what are we looking for?" Zach and Jett jumped up.

"In the library I left my bag, grab it and come back as soon as you can" Without missing a beat the two ran back to the castle. Arthur felt like an idiot for leaving his magic book in the castle but he knelt down next to Kiku. "I can't heal him without the book but I can try a few different things to slow the effects down?"

"Hai. Please" Kiku held Alfred's hand tightly,  _ Alfred couldn't die, not yet. They haven't reached their goal yet. _ Arthur rolled up Alfred's trouser leg and looked at the arrow wound which had now gone a deep blue colour.

"Okay that's not good," He sighed as he cleaned the wound with what he had on hand. He knew simple healing for cuts and scrapes but that wasn't great for extracting poison. He thought quickly and remembered he could transfer some of his energy to Alfred if he could keep an 'undisturbed bond' "Kiku, I'm going to try and pass some of my conscious to his, just to keep his brain and heart working, I  **cannot** be disturbed during this or I'll break concentration and he could die. Only move me when Jett and Zach are back, understood?"

Kiku agreed and Leon went to look out for the others coming back. Arthur pulled off Alfred's shirt and placed his hands over his heart. He could feel the ever weakening pulse under his hands, he could only pray this worked. He took a deep breath

"da mihi virtutem inducere hominem ad vitam" Kiku watched in shock as the ground began to light up and he saw the glowing aura surrounding Arthur. Kiku could almost feel the pressure of the magic as the light travelled from Arthur and to Alfred. He could see almost immediately the colour had begun to come back to Alfred and he could feel his pulse strengthen. Kiku immediately let go of Alfred and for a minute, was filled with hope that everything would be okay. Arthur used all his concentration and his strength, body and mind to keep the passage from him to Alfred alive. He was essentially making Alfred's organs work for him. He stayed still, focused completely on keeping him alive. 

Jett and Zach ran back quickly with Arthur's bag in hand. "It can wait but you're not gonna believe what we heard!!" Jett called as he dropped the bag down next to them and Leon let them get their breaths back. Kiku emptied out Arthur's bag in search of the book, he pulled it out and held it in front of Arthur. He stayed still and grunted

"Pen. Write, Lukas, help with poison." He was obviously struggling to keep the connection with Alfred so Kiku didn't waste any time scribbling into the book, 'Lukas, please help how do you extract poison from someone?' Much to Kiku's surprise almost immediately someone wrote back. It was a bunch of words Kiku didn't understand so he held the book in front of Arthur 

"Does this help?" He asked calmly even though it was evident he was panicking looking at his team-mate basically dead on the floor. Arthur nodded and broke the connection with Alfred. His eyes scanned the latin text quickly before grabbing a stick and drawing a spell casting circle around Alfred. The others stepped back out of the circle as Arthur used his magic to keep the book floating in front of him and he recited the words. Kiku was shocked to see the circle light up green with magic. The light pulsated slowly before shrinking to the middle of the circle where Alfred lay. The magic light did this ten times before the lights faded and Arthur grabbed the book.

There was five seconds of silence and dread(which felt so much longer) until Alfred coughed and sat up, throwing up black liquid. Everyone ran to help him throw it up.

"Was that- poison?" Kiku asked.

"Yes, someone get him some water so he can get it out of his mouth. Alfred please don;t swallow okay?" He nodded and tried to spit all the poison out of his mouth, Leon searched his bag and grabbed a flask. Alfred gargled the water and spat out the rest of the poison onto the floor. Kiku let out a sigh of relief

"How are you feeling?"

"Tingly but alive" Alfred smiled. Arthur was surprised that the prospect of almost dying wasn't more upsetting to Alfred.

"Much better than being dead." Arthur pat Alfred on the shoulder before standing up, his head was spinning. Well, he  _ did  _ just power two bodies at one time. He'd never used so much magic in one go before, ever. He slid down the tree next to them and sighed. Seeing that Alfred was okay Kiku came and sat down next to Arthur

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm just a bit tired. He should be completely back to normal by the morning if he isn't already" He said as he watched Alfred and the others poking at the poison with a stick. "He really is a big child isn't he?"

"Hai, but his heart is in the right place. He wants to help people, even if they don't really want to help him." Kiku watched them giggling about it a few feet away. Arthur yawned "Thank you. I don't know what we'd do without him"

"Oh?"

"He is the leader, he's child-like but sometimes that's a good thing. He doesn't over complicate or over think things, which is normally a good thing" Arthur chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess, you are all pretty close with one another too. Oh that reminds me, I need to write to thank Lukas" He smiled.

\-----

Lukas sat at his desk looking at the words as they came through the pages 'Thank you Lukas, you're a lifesaver. Literally' Lukas smirked at this and wrote back 

'How is everything going?'

'Fine, I got to Germany before bumping into the Rebellion and I met King Ludwig and his brother who think I'm an interior designer'

Lukas sat and re read that sentence over and over again "Did I miss something?" He frowned 'What the fuck Arthur?'

'I know but I'm headed with the Rebels as they're going to France too and at least if we bump into any royals they might just know me as the interior designer'

'hopefully, stay safe and write if you need anything else'

'Will do, thanks Lukas' He sighed and closed the book, he felt Vlad peering over his shoulder.

"Who was that?"

"It was Arthur," Lukas said as he stretched looking at the night sky outside.

"How's he doing?"

"Well he's joined the Rebellion-"

"URGH and I really thought he'd be the one to help us!" Vlad groaned, floating over to the chair next to Lukas.

"Well, aside from one incident I've not heard much from him. He's doing better than I thought and apparently he's got an alternate identity to the Beilschmidt Kingdom"

"Hmm... still think the Rebels are a bunch of morons." He pouted.

"I don't disagree but I do believe that soon enough, we might have to join those morons." Lukas sighed

"You think?"

He nodded "We can't hide forever, and it's better we join the fight whilst we still have the option to do so. Currently Matthias and Berwald are on a shipping mission and they should be back by the end of the week. I'm going to talk to them about it."

"You know yourself it's a suicide mission"

"Yeah, one that we sent the first wizard we've found in years on. We need to stand up for our guilds and for other wizards. If we go more are bound to follow."

Vlad knew Lukas made some good points but he didn't really fancy the idea of dying. He frowned but eventually caved. "Alright. Can we talk about this in the morning though? It's getting late and I know what you lot are like at night time."

A smile slowly crept onto Lukas' face "Not all of us can be nocturnal and see in the dark."

Vlad's eyes hadn't caught everything though as he failed to see young Peter stood at the door eavesdropping on their conversation. 

Peter ran out of the house and into the nearby field "Mr. Toris?" He called out looking for the brunette. He could see his horns poking out the field, as there were no visitors expected, there wasn't a need to hide themselves in the village area. Toris poked his head up.

"Peter? It's pretty dark, what are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question but I came to you for some advice!" Peter smiled. Toris honestly felt quite happy, he was just a farmer, he didn't get many people asking him for wise words.

"About what Peter?" 

"What do you think about the Rebellion?"

"Well... that's a wide umbrella I think what they're doing is wonderful but I think their- plans of action are rather idiotic. They have a habit of rushing into things and getting killed just as quickly."

"So you think if there was another group of Rebels who were smarter and stronger, that they could actually help to take down the bad guys?"

He thought about it "Honestly, probably. From what I've heard the Empires aren't as united as they would like us to think they are, so why not?" He shrugged and paused "You aren't meaning to say that your parents would be thinking of doing something like this"

"No no, I just heard Lukas talking about it.. That's all I had to ask about. Thank you Mr. Toris!" Peter beamed as he hugged the satyr before running back to his house. He hugged Tino good night before scrambling upstairs to his room. Peter was strong and smart and he was sure he could be a great ally to the Rebellion if he could just get out there. He picked up his quill and began to write down his plan of action.

\-------

Arthur smiled as the others set up the campfire again. Alfred was telling them a rather dramatic re-enactment of what it felt like to almost die and be revived. Arthur had been drifting off to sleep as the others were talking, he had originally been paranoid that someone would find them but had soon shaken that fear as the hours passed. The others continued to talk huddled round the campfire completely unaware of the pair of red eyes watching them through the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too sure what's the best way to transition to different perspectives in the story, so please leave a comment if you've got a suggestion👉🏻👈🏻 Thank you all for reading and I'm sorry about the erratic schedule but the next chapter will definitely be out within the week :)


	12. The Beast from the East

The room was dark and quiet. The walls were black the same as the floor, except from the pentagram in the centre which was now glowing purple. Ivan was sitting on his throne waiting for her to come back. The pentagram got brighter and brighter until a woman appeared. She had long silver hair which was slicked back, a pair of demonic horns poking through her hair accompanied by a pointy tail. Her eyes briefly flashed blood red before returning to their natural hypnotic purple, much the same as Ivan's however her's always seemed more serious than Ivan's sad eyes. She looked up at him.

"They're still in Germany." 

He scoffed and frowned "Of course they are. And what of this wizard you prophesied? Is he there?"

"Da. His magic is strong but he is not. It won't be an issue for me to take him out."

"Good. However there's no fun in that Natalia, you know that. For now, observe and follow. That idiot Alfred is bound to trip up and get them all caught sooner or later"

"But they," she frowns, "Something tells me that they're not messing around anymore. They're heading straight to France."

"France? Why are they going West?" Ivan growled

"The Wizard, he's got quarrels with the King. Alfred doesn't believe they're ready to rush back yet. He thinks with a wizard he'll have no problem beating the French and recruiting more people to work against you."

Ivan burst out laughing, his haunting laugh rang through most of the castle sending shivers up the servants spines. "That idiot. He really is as naive as I thought. We can't let them get to France, as fun as it would be to watch them all get killed, that's our job and if  _ he  _ found out there was a wizard we'd be defending our land rather than advancing it"

“So why not interfere?”

Ivan scratched his chin thinking “Where does their ‘secret route’ go?”

“It would take them to The Netherlands and getting a boat to Dunkirk or Calais before walking to Paris.”

He huffed “Not the smartest ragtag group are they?”

“Nyet.”

“Stick to the plan, observe and follow, report to me when the get to the port, there’s got to be a few Russian ships there”

“Yes sir.”

“Oh and Natalia, one more thing?”

“Yes?” She asked suspiciously.

“Send a message of the rebels new member to Emperor Yao” He smiled. Natalia grit her teeth, he  _ knew _ she hated that man. She supposed that’s why he’d asked her. She nodded slowly before disappearing again. Ivan's smile faltered as he stood up. "What a bunch of morons." He sighed as he walked out of the room. Many of the corridors in his castle were dark with purple accents. As he walked up the staircase the howling of a blizzard outside caught his attention. Ivan walked to the top of the stairs and went to the nearest window before staring down at the swirling snow that battered against the castle. This was Ivan's preferred weather, a man like Ivan was used to the screaming of the wind in fact, he enjoyed it. It reminded him of the adrenaline rushing through his veins when he could hear  _ real  _ screams. 

Ivan was a cruel ruler known for his lack of empathy for others. There were very few people and things Ivan cared about nearly as much as he did power. His sisters Katyusha and Natalia were dear to him (one more than the other) and he enjoyed the company of most of the servants in his castle. However if any of them passed, he doubted he'd care. Ivan valued the company of animals over humans most of the time, especially his babies Malyshka and Dorogaya, his pet Polar bears. He'd happily feed them a servant or two if it would keep them happy. He looked around at the decor in the hall. Dark and brooding, he preferred it that way, he felt it contrasted nicely with how bleak everything outside was. Being 6'2 and undeniably the strongest of all the rulers he didn't need his castle to prove he was a force to be reckoned with but he felt it helped his 'aesthetic'.

Down the corridor Ivan could hear hushed talking, he knew exactly who it was. It was his favourite servants, he loved to toy with them. He prowled down the hallway until he came to the door that opened up into the library where he could hear Eduard and Raivis talking to one another.

"No way, you've got to be kidding me. Such a place could not exist"

"No it is true! I read all about it in some of the books, a magical village hidden to others." Eduard saw that Raivis was staring back blankly.

"Sure."

"It's real Raivis, in the town there's fae and wizards and all year round they harvest and drink and have a good time in the village! Doesn't that sound wonderful?" He smiled

Raivis sighed "Yeah, better than this frozen wasteland anyway" The two sat for a moment looking out the window until Raivis felt a cold pair of hands on his shoulder. Immediately the young man began to shiver as he looked up and saw Ivan smiling down at him.

"You shouldn't listen to Eduard, that sounds boring anyway. You can't make snowmen without any snow. Don't you enjoy playing in the snow?" Ivan beamed, receiving a nod from the terrified boy. "Good, now stop this silly talk of magic lands and get back to work" Ivans happy smile turned to an eerie one. 

"Yes sir!" The two jumped up and left the library quickly, Ivan chuckled to himself and picked up the book Eduard was reading. 

"What a load of shit." He examined the book to find it was one on the history of the islands. "The islands? That abysmal place? Ha. Do not worry Eduard, it will soon be ours." He pocketed the book and left heading back to his room. 

Reaching his room he locked the door and window before checking for intruders, like any sane royal would. He lay down and flicked through the book. He skimmed over pictures of the South before it had merged with the North, he read over some more prominent clans and villages, old Kings and royals. Then he found what he was looking for, a chapter on a "magic village" as he read he felt a twinge of familiarity. He slowly went over it again, it was written in Barbarian which he could read but the writing was atrocious until he recognised something:

'I have managed to get one of the villagers here to write a bit about what life is like and how different this place is compared to everywhere else - 

I love living here, everything from the green leaves on the trees to the hazy days in the fields and even the brilliant Nordic relationship this village has. It is truly a diamond in the rough, a little place of peace and paradise' 

Ivan noticed the change in handwriting and instantly realised who it was. He roared with laughter, unable to control his pure joy. He had been wondering for  _ years _ where his favourite servant had gone

"You sly dog, that's where you've been hiding the whole time. Do not worry Toris. I will find you."

Natalia stalked the hallways ignoring the stiff looks she received from the guards, she had been to the palace on several occasions but never without Ivan. She hardly took notice of the beautiful jade palace which was intricately decorated with gold statues and paintings. As she walked closer to the room she could hear people talking inside but frankly didn't care. She barged through the double doors revealing the emperor talking to some of his relatives. The emperor sighed seeing Natalia in his palace. He looked at the others

"Xiao Mei, lead the others to the library, I have to deal with the 'guest'" Mei nodded and her and the others left leaving Natalia and the emperor alone. "So, why are you here?"

"I have news, not like I'd come to this hell-hole for a weekend break"

"When did you get a sense of humour?"

"Cup the crap Yao, I'm here to relay a message and then I'm gone."

Yao looked Natalia up and down before sitting back into the throne "Such a big mouth for such a petty demon."

She growled at him, her eyes flashing a warning shade of red "I'd watch your tongue Yao or I'll-"

"You'll what? Take my soul? You know those threats are meaningless to me." He smirked at Natalia who rolled her eyes in response. "Now tell me, what is this message you bring?"

"It's about the Rebels. They've decided to head West rather than East, but they have a wizard in their mix now" 

"Surely one wizard wouldn't be a difficult task for you to take care off?" Yao simply replied.

"It's not, the Tzar has everything planned, he just wanted to make you aware of everything and I'm much faster than sending a letter"

"We both know that's not why he sent you." Yao smiled as he drank his tea, he offered her a cup.

"I don't drink warm leaves" 

"Aiyah, you're so horrible to be around. You have no taste!" Yao frowned, finishing his cup. "Is that it? Just to tell me of some Rebels?"

"Yes unless you want to say something?"

"How is he? The great and all powerful Tzar." Yao mused watching Natalia's tail swing angrily back and forth. 

"He's fine. There's a blizzard at home so for all I know he's outside rolling around in the snow."

"You don't seem to think very highly of the man who could have you obliterated from this world and the next"

"Why would I be afraid of him? We love each other. Lover's don't hurt or threaten each other"

"Hahaha, you really  _ are _ delusional. You know to him you're nothing more than 'family'. That's all you are to him, no more important than Katyusha. In fact I think he values you less than those little servants he always likes to torment"

She growled and charged up to him, Yao didn't flinch. "You take that back or I'll gouge your eyes out." She snarled, brandishing her nails to Yao.

"You don't want to make a mockery of the Tzar do you? I can see straight through your facade, but it's nice that you try" He smirked, taking a pinch of salt and chucking it at her making her back off slightly. "Now if you are done, I've nothing left to say." He said rising from his throne and making his way to show her the door.

"You know one thing Yao?" She looked at him.

"What?"

"Demons always follow through on their promises. Yours may have faltered but a deal is a deal, they'll be here to collect their debt eventually. That is something you can count on"

"Is that supposed to be scary? Lovely. I will see you next month when we have our next meeting."

"Joy. I ought to tell him you're dead so he'd cancel these stupid meetings."

“Owch, it must eat you inside to be that jealous”

Natalia twitched “What did you say?”

“You heard me you incubus. You’re jealous.”

She wasted no time jumping on Yao and fastening her hands around his neck “You take that back you little shit!!” She barked at him. Yao tried to reach for the salt but Natalia used her tail to swipe it away from him.  _ Fine,  _ he thought,  _ she wants to do things the hard way.  _ He took as deep a breath as he could whilst being strangled and placed his hands on her wrists. She felt his hands as hot as fire but kept tightening her grip. Natalia could quickly smell the wretched stench of burning flesh as her hands burned. Yao could feel her skin becoming more malleable under his touch and held his hands there until finally she teleported out of his grip, letting go of his neck. He tried to pretend he wasn't exerted but Natalia could see the colour rush back to his face. 

"If I held on for another 10 seconds you'd be fucked. I might not be able to kill you but I could've paralysed you or made you a vegetable"

"Sure, that's why you let go." He stood up, his eyes glazing over white. Some of the metal ornaments that adorned the room came off the wall and pointed themselves at Natalia. Simultaneously they all shot down at her, Natalia only narrowly teleporting in time. He frowned as she appeared next to him.

"You hide behind your Kingdom but I know that in truth you're just an old man so scared of dying he sold his soul." Yao lashed out at her but she dodged yet again. "Now, I am being summoned because unlike you, I am actually useful." She disappeared from Yao's kingdom, leaving him to mutter to himself in anger.

Natalia appeared before Ivan as he was talking to Eduard and Raivis. Seeing her stood behind Ivan made the two shrink ever so slightly. Ivan noticed this and turned around.

"Took you long enough."

"I was dealing with something"

"We're going to the Islands"

"Don't tell me they're coming?"

"Of course they are, we need some sort of bait"

"Who will look after the castle"

"Katyusha, stop nagging and get ready" Ivan smiled as Natalia rolled her eyes in annoyance. Ivan scooped Eduard and Raivis in close so Natalia could teleport them all. To anyone unused to the experience it's very nauseating and made Raivis gag thrice due to motion sickness. Thankfully it was quick and they landed on a pebbly beach. "Ah Natalia, you read my mind"

"Yeah, that's the point" She frowned, stepping out the way so Raivis could throw up his breakfast. The sun was midway through the Western sky and Ivan motioned for them to follow him. 

"Eduard you know your silly little book?" Ivan asked as they headed off the beach and into the trees.

"Yes sir?"

"This is where the "faery" village is set" He pointed through the nearby trees at a few wooden houses that were peaking through. Raivis was ecstatic as they walked into the village but Eduard was suspicious, Ivan never did anything out of the kindness of his heart. They were there for a reason. He just didn't know what.

Ivan and Natalia oggled at the Nordic text scrawled across the houses. 

"Definitely connected with magic," She nodded "Can you make out what it says?"

"I'll need a minute but yes." She walked up to have a closer look and Ivan shooed Eduard and Raivis away. The two boys inspected the houses, seeing that there wasn't a single light on in any of the houses. Raivis looked to Eduard in confusion.

"Well... Fae are magical creatures who are probably frightened of Ivan"

"These houses look too big for fae" Eduard simply shrugged in response. They decided not to peer into the houses and instead looked around the back which led them into a gigantic wheat field. Raivis paused for a moment, squinting into the field. "Is that?"

Eduard struggled to see as well as Raivis but he could make out a figure bent double in the field. Raivis beamed as he ran into the field "TORIS!!" The young one cried out in glee. Upon hearing his name Toris pulled his hat on and looked up to see his old best friends. Toris managed to hide his hooves as Raivis jumped on him for a hug, closely followed by Eduard.

Toris teared up "I'm so glad to see you two! How did you escape?"

"Escape?" Raivis laughed "Fat chance, he'd catch us instantly" His smile faltered.

"What do you mean you haven't escaped?" Toris frowned, his heart rate quickened. Eduard saw the fear in Toris' face

"He led us here... he didn't really just let you go did he?"

"No, I ran, I got out. He's  _ here _ , in the village?"

"Yes why?" 

Natalia appeared behind Toris "Well you weren't too difficult to find." Immediately his fight or flight reactions kicked in as he punched Natalia square in the face breaking her nose and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the village. He debated screaming for help  _ but what if Ivan didn't know about the others, what if they're safe and I blew their cover. What if they've already been caught?  _

Toris was snapped out of his thoughts on hearing a sickening crunch and feeling an excruciating pain in his leg. He tumbled to the ground and saw his tibia was poking through his trouser leg. Ivan loomed over him with a thick branch.

"I've still got it" He smirked as he bent over to examine the satyr. "Is this what you've been hiding for so long?" He laughed "Look Natalia, he's got the same horns as you." She simply rolled her eyes and walked over to them, clicking her nose back in place. Ivan pulled out a small knife from his jacket. "You really thought you were free? You thought you could run? Hahahaha, how naive. I have eyes everywhere, you should've known one of these days we'd come and find you. However I must thank Eduard for giving me the big clue." Toris looked to Eduard, fat tears rolling down his cheek. By the shocked expression on Eduard's face, he had no clue what Ivan was talking about. "I was going to kill you but, I guess these morons could use the help." He dug the knife into Toris' hand making him cry out in pain. Ivan began to carve the letter I into his hand causing Toris to writhe in agony.

"The more you move the worse it is" Ivan smirked through gritted teeth. Toris whimpered and tried desperately to keep still as the knife cut through muscle and tendons. Soon enough Ivan was satisfied with his work and let go. "Alright, it's time to leave."

Peter woke up to hear screaming in the distance. His parents were gone on a job with the others leaving him alone with Vlad as even Feliks and Toris were busy. He sat up noticing it was only beginning to get dark, living with Vlad tends to change a person's sleeping habits. He crept downstairs, flung on his coat and headed out to the field where the screaming was coming from. 

As he got to the wheat field he saw a strange figure scratching a shape into the earth. It looked like one of the ones 'Uncle' Lukas would draw. It was then he saw Toris being picked up by two strange people he'd never seen before.  _ They're kidnapping him!  _ He thought as he slowly made his way through the wheat. He was small enough that he could sneak by undetected by the others. The woman stood up.

"It is done"

"Alright, everyone in the pentagram, we're leaving" Peter watched terrified as the two moved Toris to stand in the shape with them. Peter wouldn't stand for this, he wouldn't let his friend be kidnapped right before his very eyes. He silently charged, hoping to knock Toris out of their grip and sneak away whilst they struggled to get up. He launched himself into the pentagram as it glowed purple and disappeared. 

The next thing Peter knew, he was lying on the cold marble floor of a cold dark castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, it's been far too long. Sorry about that, school started up and I've been dying... Updates won't be as regular but I'll try for one chapter a week :) Thank you for reading, see you next chapter!


	13. A Trade to be Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW!!! this chapter has mentions of torture and blood!

Sweat dripped down his brow as Allistair tried to keep his composure. Francis sat across from him pouring a glass of wine. The ginger man looked down at his chained hands,  _ stupid bastard. Dunno why he thinks I’ll be civil.  _ Francis looked at him and smiled.

“Care for a glass?” He smiled.

“No.” The man scowled back.

“I thought you barbarians enjoyed a drink?” He smirked as he drank his own glass. “How was the trip? I trust Antonio treated you well?”

Allistair rolled his eyes “Why am I here? 

“Ah, straight to the point.” Francis slid a sheet of parchment in front of Allistair, there was a map printed on it “This is a map.”

“Fucking obviously, how stupid do you think we are?”

“Very. Anyway, all the things in green belong to us. Your little island is red,” He uses a quill and points to the north west of the island “This is where you live correct?”

“Aye.”

“Good. When we conquered the little island to the West I came across two men from there shouting and claiming that we’d never step foot in Alba and that Alba would always be free. Both tall, red hair, thick eyebrows. I’m seeing a connection no?” Francis could see by the look in Allistair’s face that he’d hit a nerve. "So I made that man a promise, that I would destroy everything he loved and fought for and so far I'd say I'm doing a fairly good job of that" He chuckled to himself.

Allistair was struggling not to fly out of the chair and attack him. 

"Do it, I dare you." Francis jeered. Allistair didn't argue and jumped out of the chair and lunged at Francis. He grabbed Allistair by the chains and pulled him towards him but raised his leg and kicked him in the chest winding him. "Aw come on, you're a barbarian, fighting is meant to be your strong point?" Francis mused as Allistair charged at him. Francis dodged and hit back with a more elegant style of fighting compared to Allistair's strength. However Francis was right, fighting was his thing. Allistair recognised the King's pattern of dodging and ducking and he pretended to lunge making Francis duck where Allistair immediately smashed his skull against Francis'. He fell off balance and stumbled back as Allistair ran up against the wall and kicked Francis again. However Francis was quick to gain composure and grabbed Allistair's leg. He pulled and the Scot fell crashing on his back. Francis wasted no time immobilising him by straddling him. "I knew you were easy to anger but come on" he laughed. "So say you did win the fight, how did you anticipate sneaking out past all the guards, if I thought you were a proper enemy I would've screamed and you would be in the guillotine by now" Allistair still thrashed to get the blonde off of him. 

"Fuck off I would've snuck out the window" He said looking for anything he could use to his advantage. 

"All that muscle is no use when you can't use it right. So, let me tell you why you're here." He made sure Allistair's focus was on him and not the room around them. "I want to take Alba from you, willingly."

"Ha! You're just as crazy as I thought. You think you can bat your eyelashes and I’ll hand over my whole country" 

"As if I'd give myself to the likes of you. But let's be honest it's not really  _ your  _ country is it? Your father was the leader of the strongest clan, not you." Francis smirked as he watched Allistair's expression soften. 

"Aye, exactly."

"But you're the eldest that remained in Alba. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been looking after your little brothers and mother all on your own. It must have been especially hard when one of your rugged bunch got mouthy and almost got his head cut off and what did you do? Oh that's right nothing. Wasn't it one of your other siblings that shot the head of my military in the arm?"

Allistair laughed. "What that blundering idiot? Aye he deserved it, he was on a power trip, if there wasn't weins around I would've slit his fucking throat."

"That's no way to talk about a man who could crush you under his heel." Allistair spat in Francis' face making him sigh and wipe his face "Lovely." He commented before bringing his fist down hard onto Allistair’s face. He quickly pulled out a small blade and held it to Allistair's neck. "Recognize this?" He purred as Allistair glared at him. "I should hope that you do, it was your father's after all" 

"Where did you get that?" Allistair growled.

"Where do you think silly, your father of course?" He slowly dug the knife into his neck causing drops of blood to escape from his pale skin. Allistair didn't flinch so Francis moved the knife and dangled it above his right eye. Still no reaction  _ Merde, he's good.  _ Francis thought. He moved the knife to his lower eyelid. Allistair tried to move his head away and Francis smiled.

"Fuck off you stupid cunt"

"Ah ah, keep still or you'll make this much worse than it needs to be" He slowly inserted the blade under Allistair's eye making him freeze up. He was determined not to scream no matter how much it hurt, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He felt sick as he could feel the knife moving around his eye, he was trying to maneuver it out of its socket. Allistair bit back the pain and stared up at the vicious dictator who was straddling him. There was a knock at the door that distracted Francis, he looked up to find Matthew stood at the door. "Yes mon petit?"

"Erm..." Matthew looked down at the man chained up on the floor then back at Francis "Just to let you know that Antonio has safely left the country and we received a letter about possibly having a meeting with the King of Germany. I-I can come back later if you're busy?"

"Yes please, I'll be down in a minute" Francis smiled and Matthew nodded before leaving. Francis removed the knife from Allistair's eye and sighed "Family huh? They keep you on track" He looks back at Allistair. "Hmm.... Guess you wouldn't be as useful with a missing eye despite how cool it would look" He laughed. 

"And why the fuck would I help you?"

"Because, I am good at bartering"

"What  _ exactly  _ do you have to offer?" Allistair asked dryly.

"Well, I want full control of the island,  _ and  _ for you to help work in the royal guards, you're strong. Put that to good use."

"Hahaha fuck off."

"You didn't let me finish."

"No fucking way, alba is everything to me, I could never. My father would beat the shit out of me for even thinking about it!"

"Oh but you could and you will. Your father and brother, are not dead." Francis enjoyed watching Allistair's eyes widen. "I do not wish to burn Alba to the ground, simply for a change of pace in the country. In exchange for that, I will let them live and once you have proven yourself worthy to me I will send them home. Do we have a deal?"

Francis could see all the options swirling around in Allistair's head,  _ could he give up everything for his family? Could he betray his country? Maybe Francis wasn't so bad? Maybe he wouldn't destroy everything? Was this a risk he could take?  _

It didn't feel like he had much of a choice.

\--------

Arthur woke up to Kiku putting out the fire from last night. He sat up and stretched as the others began to wake from their slumber. He helped the others pack up their bags and check everything was there.

"We've got a long walk to the port but hopefully we can catch a lift in a hay cart or something"

"The port?" Arthur questioned.

"Yes Rotterdam port, it's the best way to get to France without being noticed" Kiku replied

_ Ah, _ Arthur thought  _ so Alfred was chatting out his arse about a 'secret tunnel' . Wonder what else he's lying about?  _ Arthur frowned as he sealed up his bag.

Alfred was eating an apple and scratching his neck "Welp, come on, let's get walking" He stood up and ruffled Kiku's hair. Jett moaned about it being too early but they all started trekking through the forest. Arthur didn't mind walking with company, Alfred's incessant talking helped him to zone out without slowing his walking pace. Arthur knew it was roughly a six day walk to Rotterdam but he'd walked further. Doing this got him one step closer to his goal of helping his family and taking his land back. Thankfully the days sped by and in no time they were nearing the port. Arthur could hear the hustle and bustle of the port from a few hundred yards away.

Leon sighed "finally! Society. People! I feel like I've been walking through barren wastelands forever!" He complained, Jett laughed

"Barren wastelands? We stopped in a village every night that's hardly bloody deserted mate"

"Felt like it," He pouted. Arthur smiled as they made it to the port, the weather was calm and Arthur could see the waves gently slapping back and forth and the gulls soaring in the blue sky. He thought for all the noise and movement, this place was pretty peaceful. Immediately everyone wanted to split up.

"whoah whoah, where are we going?"

"Well I'm going to get some cakes from the bakery, I'll only be gone a moment, Kiku's coming with me!" Alfred smiled as he quickly dragged Kiku away.

"Zach and I are going to the blacksmiths!!" Arthur sighed as Zach and Jett ran off to look at weapons leaving Arthur and Leon alone.

"Well this is bloody brilliant.."

"I know" Leon frowned. Arthur muttered to himself as Leon turned around to find a blonde man waving them down. 

"Um... You know them?"

"Know wh-" Arthur turned to see what Leon was talking about only to be tackled by Matthias. "What the fuck?!"

"Hahahaha oh my gods! Fancy seeing you here!" Matthias laughed. Arthur looked back to see Lukas, Berwald, Tino and Emil walking down to meet them. "He's still alive, I'm shocked!"

  
  


"Oh gee, glad to think you have so much faith in me" He laughed as he greeted the others "Peter's not with you?"

"No," Berwald says "He's staying with Vlad" Tino nods.

"He doesn't enjoy the long trips so Vlad promised to "teach him the way of the night beast" or whatever" Tino laughed holding Berwald's arm. Arthur smiled and noted that Emil and Leon seemed to be getting along quite well. Matthias looked around.

"Where's the rest of them?"

"They wanted to check out the port before we leave so they've all split up"

Lukas rolls his eyes "Good team-work I see"

"Tell me about it," Arthur laughed. Leon nudged his arm "What's wrong?"

He's staring into the crowd "We need to leave."

"What? But we need to wait for the others"

  
  


"I know but we have to get out of here." Leon motioned through the crowd to a bunch of men in a dark uniform. "They're Russian, we need to leave, now. If they see Alfred we're fucked"

As if by magic, Alfred appeared loudly proclaiming how nice the pastries are "Oh guys, you need to try these cakes! Woah, who are you dudes. Are you the magic man Arthur was writing to?"

Immediately Alfred and Matthias hit it off talking as Jett and Zach came back. It was then that Arthur saw the men look over.

"Alfred, we need to leave" Arthur nudged him, "Guys it was lovely seeing you again but we need to get out of here now."

Matthias nodded "But we were thinking, we want to help."

"Dude really, that's great, we can take all the help we can get" Alfred smiled. Arthur watched as the men began to walk over 

"Brilliant but seriously not now, there are Russian guards here that are fucking coming closer" Arthur hushed quickly. Matthias turns around and sees them.

"Ooohhh, don't worry about it, we've got this." He smirked. Seeing the men running towards them, Matthias charged back at them and used his fists to plough through the first man. The people at the port seeing the commotion continued on with their work whilst giving them a bit of space to fight it out. Berwald kicked one of the other men sending them flying back.

"You guys go ahead, we'll deal with this." Lukas sighed. Arthur nodded and Alfred quickly led them in the opposite direction as more guards started to follow.

At the other side of the dock Antonio was waiting for the next boat heading South when he caught a glimpse of a familiar face. He watched as Alfred and the others made their way down the berth.  _ Wait a minute,  _ he thought,  _ that was the bastard who shot me.  _ Feeling anger rising within him Antonio was ready to go after Arthur until he saw them being followed by some Russian men. He watched as Alfred turned around pushing some wood behind them so they had more chance to run. Antonio watched in amusement as the Russian guards caught up easily and another fight broke out. To say Toni was excited to watch Arthur get the shit kicked out of him was an understatement. 

Jett and Leon managed to swipe at some of the guards feet kicking them off guard. However no matter how fast they fought, the Russian men seemed faster. Kiku readied himself to use his katana but had it kicked out of his hand by another Russian. All Arthur could see was fast movements all around him until he was pinned down by two guards. He had to think quickly.

Antonio smirked when he saw Arthur fall to the ground but his amusement turned to confusion when he saw Arthur's eyes glow green.

"GET OFF OF ME!" He yelled sending a shock wave of energy through the guards making them fly back. More guards went in for the attack but Arthur managed to use green balls of energy to keep them back. He could feel himself getting weaker quickly, he  _ really _ had to learn how not to exert himself. Second by second he felt his body shaking. Kiku saw this and tried to back up Arthur as best he could but after a few minutes Arthur fell to the ground unconscious. Despite them all being excellent fighters they were simply overpowered by the guards. The other people at the port minded their own business as the Russian guards rounded up the rebels. 

_ Well,  _ Antonio thought,  _ that was interesting. I think I'll be making a slight detour to France.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Schedules really aren't my strong point but my aim is to get another chapter out by the end of the month, seems reasonable :)


	14. A Frozen Boat

Matthias felt a pounding pain in his head, he sat up to find himself lying on the port with a figure looming over him. It was bright and he squinted to see who it was.

"...Tim?" He asked as he tried to get a better look at the man.

"Obviously. I heard you were causing trouble on the port." Tim was a tall man with light brown hair and stern green eyes. He was pretty recognisable as he always wore his blue and white scarf and was normally found smoking on his pipe.

"Yeah well, it wasn't our fault. We were helping our friends"

"Friends? You mean that rag-tag team of 'Rebels'?" Tim saw the smile on Matthias' face "Why am I not surprised." He rolled his eyes.

Matthias pulled himself up to see Manon, Tim's little sister checking on Tino and Lukas who were already awake.

"Listen Tim, they're not wrong you know. This place is going to shit, if we don't do something then Odin knows what'll happen to it!"

"You're lucky I haven't just thrown all of you in the stocks for that little stunt. Do you know how much money you could've lost me? This is a  _ safe _ port where anyone can come to trade and stop."

"Safe?!" Matthias shouted " **We** were attacked, it's meant to be safe for us too!" Tim stared down the angry Dane. 

"Are you going to shout at me?" Tim stated calmly.

Matthias took a deep breath and sighed "No." He'd known the apathetic Dutch man for as long as he could remember and he knew better than anyone that flying off the handle and yelling would get you absolutely nowhere with Tim.

"Good. Now if you want to talk to me about this properly, round up your 'crazy crew' and come to my office."

\----------------

_ Oh no,  _ Arthur thought,  _ why am I back on the fucking water?  _ Despite being encompassed in darkness Arthur could still feel the steady rocking of the boat and the waves crashing against the side of the boat. He could also hear a faint grunting sound from nearby. Trying to get up he found his wrists and ankles were bound together. He frowned and summoned magic to illuminate the area. Green light spread through the cabin and he could see the others tied up, still asleep but across from him he saw Alfred trying to bite through the bonds on his wrists.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Alfred spat out a piece of rope and went back to gnawing at it.

"Look at how thick it is, you'll break your teeth before you get anywhere with it."

"You don't know that. Determination is key." Alfred bit back stubbornly. Arthur turned his attention to Kiku and tried to rock him awake.

"Can you please wake up and tell him off for being a fucking moron" Arthur could hear footsteps from above and tried to listen to what they were saying. He remembered Leon saying that they were Russian but Arthur had no clue how to speak or understand Russian so in that aspect, he was fucked. 

He thought to himself about his possible options, he could try and burn through the rope but there was no guarantee that that wouldn't set the whole cabin on blaze and right now that probably wasn't their best solution. He could try and get into their heads but he was still pretty tired from fighting them on the port. He frowned, for now he'd just have to sit quietly and save up his energy so he could use it as soon as they docked up. 

Eventually Kiku pulled himself up and frowned, he tried to break his bonds but found it useless. Kiku saw Alfred trying to eat through his bonds then looked back to a very frustrated looking Arthur. They both looked down to see three guards come down to see them. The men were quite tall in stature and looked quite strong. They muttered between themselves and pulled Kiku and Arthur to their feet.

"You two stay still." Neither of them were willing to argue in their tired state and did as they said. "He wants these two to talk to but he said we could rough up the others a bit" They smirked and Arthur could see Kiku tense up. One of the men walked over to Alfred whilst the other two held Kiku and Arthur to stop them from intervening. Alfred said with his head high.

"You think you're going to beat me up as an 'example'?"

The man grabbed Alfred by the collar and hoisted him against the hull of the boat.

"Да, that's exactly it." He punched Alfred square in the face, hearing a satisfying crunch he stood back for a minute however Alfred barely flinched.

"I'm not going to scream. Beat me up all you want, I'm not giving you that satisfaction."

The man's shocked expression turned to one of joy as he pulled his first back again. 

"I was hoping you'd say that" He punched Alfred in the gut which made Arthur cringe yet Alfred stayed resilient. They watched in horror as the man continuously sent his fist and foot into Alfred's face. Alfred crumpled down but not a word left his lips. The man stood over the bleeding body at his feet, bones broken and blood spilling over his boots looking quite impressed with his work. Alfred just closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain. "Hahaha  _ this _ is the best you could do, the all mighty 'freedom fighters' subdued by a group of soldiers. Pathetic."

Kiku felt heat rise within him. Seeing Alfred not quipping back worried Kiku. Especially as the man continued to taunt him.

"We were told to train to expect the best, the Tzar is going to be  _ so  _ disappointed when he finds out all it took was a little chase along a pier. You guys are supposed to be leading the rebellion?" Arthur felt a scorn of shame as he heard the others laughing. "I can't believe we trained day and night, in snow and sun just to beat the shit out of you after one fight." As the man continued to berate them Arthur thought he could hear a ripping noise but nobody else seemed to notice. " We expected Gods among us but this, it's laughable! You guys are nobodies and when you die you won't be known as freedom fighters you'll be nothing but a small stain on the great Russian Empire" The man was cut off by Jett smashing his jaw against the side of the boat. In a fit of pure rage he had managed to rip the rope off himself.

The other guards let go and Kiku swept their feet from under them as Jett pummeled the first guy into the ground "You want to know about pathetic?!" Jett yelled "Just wait until your face becomes part of this fucking boat!!" As Kiku dealt with the other two guards Arthur knelt down to Alfred 

"Jett untie my hands so I can help him" However Jett was completely overcome with rage. He continued to punch and punch and punch. As Zach finally woke up he yelled over to him.

"Jett stop! We aren't them, remember." This seemed to get to Jett as he froze. "If you kill him you're no better than the Tzar… okay maybe not  _ that  _ bad but you'd be doing the same as him."

After a deep breath Jett pulled back and untied Arthur and the others as Arthur focused on trying to heal Alfred. Arthur looked down at Alfred’s bloodied face.

“Am I still beautiful?” Alfred laughed.

“You will be in a minute” Arthur tried his best to work a healing spell, the sound of bones cracking into place was unpleasant but he could tell it helped Alfred to feel a lot better. Whilst Arthur was busy Jett and Kiku managed to take out the rest of the guards that came downstairs. Despite being well trained they didn’t stand a chance against Kiku’s speed and Jett’s pure rage. Jett smirked as the last guard fell at his feet. As Arthur helped Alfred to his feet he noticed something. “The boat’s stopped moving.” The others froze. That couldn’t be good.

They heard a thud as Jett opened the door to the top of the ship, the others climbed out quickly. It was snowing, the wind howled past them, freezing them to the core. This place bred hostility and Arthur didn’t like that. They saw that the ship was docked but couldn’t see much further than that. Leon frowned.

“We need to get out of here immediately” He ran to the steering wheel but stopped when he heard a growl. Thuds shuddered through the boat as two white beasts loomed over everyone on the boat. They sniffed at them as Arthur froze, still completely terrified of the two harnessed beasts. Luckily they were pulled back and Alfred tensed when a haunting laugh echoed around them.

“Well well well,” Ivan said stepping forward, a hint of venom in his voice. “What a pleasure to meet you again, freedom fighters.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, so much for posting by the end of September, school has been HELL! I know this chapter isn't that long but I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE the next chapter will be out on Halloween~~ I just wanted to say that even though I can be slow updating I promise I ain't ever gonna leave this story undone, especially not now with season 7 announced, whoop whoop! See y'all on halloween and than you for your patience <3


	15. A Brief Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHH I hate timing, this is a really short chapter as I couldn't wrap my head around fighting at the minute and I want to get it on on Halloween like I said. I'm sorry but the next chapter will be a lot longer, thank you for sticking with me <3

Ludwig sighed as the carriage rattled down the road, needless to say it was fairly cramped with himself, Gilbert, Feliciano and the 'surprise' Gilbert insisted on taking with them. Ludwig hated when they had to travel to Francis' Kingdom but it was a necessary evil especially since Gilbert was close friends with the king. He could see the castle come into view,  _ finally,  _ he thought, they’d only been travelling for the best part of a week. Ludwig sighed, as the carriage pulled into the city and the people gawked in curiosity at the newcomers headed for the castle. Feliciano sat with his nose pressed against the glass

“Sir, look at the bread, I can smell it from here!” Feli squealed excitedly. Gilbert scoffed.

“Is food all you can think about?”

“Most of the time” He laughed. Gilbert could see Ludwig’s stern expression as he looked out the window with feigned composure.

“Hey relax a little, Franny’s a good friend of mine” He put his hand on his little brother’s shoulder. He slowly relaxed.

“I know, a friend of yours does not mean a friend of the kingdoms.” 

Gilbert frowned and let go, he thought his brother should be able to relax a little around his own friends, besides Ludwig himself had known Francis since he was young, they weren’t exactly strangers. The carriage pulled up to the gates which opened for them, Gilbert smiled upon seeing Matthew stood in the courtyard waiting for him.

"If you brought me all this way for a 'social call' with Matthew, I  _ will _ kill you." Ludwig glared at Gilbert who just laughed in response.

"I'm loud, not stupid." He kicked the carriage door open and strode out. "Hello, your highness" He bowed exaggeratedly making Matthew giggle, Matthew bowed back.

"Hello, King Beilschmidt, Prince Beilschmidt and Mr. Vargas" Ludwig bowed in response, he was glad it was Matthew welcoming him in and not Francis. Matthew led them into the castle and up into the study. Ludwig looked at the castle which was decorated head to toe in gold and velvet. Everything here gave him a feeling of superficiality, nothing here seemed genuine. "Sorry, the King wasn't expecting you for another day, he is talking to the head of our Military, I'll go and get him." Matthew once again bowed curtly before leaving.

"See, this place is nice and cozy!" Gilbert smiled as he kicked his feet up on a pouffe which made Ludwig cringe. He knew better than to speak his mind here. It also didn't help that Feli was looking with his fingers and had his paw prints on every piece of gold in the room.

"Do you think it's real?" Feli asked, picking up the candelabra. Gilbert shrugged which prompted Feli to clatter it against the table. Ludwig jumped up

"Feli stop!" He hissed as he grabbed it off him. He puts it back and tries to wipe it clean with his robes. Hearing footsteps he quickly sat back down "Get your feet off." He scolded and Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen." Francis smiled sheathing his rapier. Gilbert smiled before jumping up and hugging him. Ludwig gave him a handshake instead. "Oh, ever the professional" Francis smirked, Ludwig simply nodded in response.

"I do hope this isn't another attempt for you to take over my Kingdom." Ludwig asked suspiciously. 

"Oh of course not, Ludwig you always think so close to home. You should expand your thinking. We have heard word of something very interesting."

Ludwig stopped himself from sighing, he was used to Francis' half-baked ideas on world domination. "Go on?"

"There's a wizard."

That got the attention of everyone in the room.

\----------------------------------------------

The castle was cold, Arthur didn't like it. He especially didn't like the giant white bears that followed either side of them. They were much bigger than the ones he usually saw back home. Admittedly they did look incredibly soft but he didn't fancy touching one to find out. They led them to a throne room where the door shut behind them. Ivan walked calmly to the chair before sitting down. 

"So, you are the rebellion, how cute." He smiled. "I know some of you, the others not so much. What are your names?"

Alfred stepped forward but Arthur stopped him. 

"My name is Arthur. Apparently you've met Alfred, Jett and Zach before, the others are Kiku, and Leon. Why are we here?"

Ivan beamed "I'm glad you asked. Toris, Eduard, Natalia, escort Jett, Zach and Leon out of the room for a moment." Arthur looked around hearing that name as he saw Toris limp in. Arthur went to go and talk to him but the bears growled at him, Toris avoided his eye contact. One bear walked behind Arthur separating them into two groups as the others were led back outside. "So, Arthur," His voice lingered on his name. "You are the wizard correct?"

"Yes." Arthur said calmly.

"Excellent, I would like to see you fight."

Arthur looked at him "Pardon?" He questioned. Hearing the door open and close behind him again, he looked to see Natalia smiling at him. 

"You heard me Arthur." The venom dripped from his voice and he smirked. "Natalia, whenever you're ready."

Natalia smiled, and her eyes turned red.

**Author's Note:**

> It's only been like what 4 years? I'd like to think my writing has improved since 2016 but I doubt it. HOPEFULLY this will be ongoing, depending on whether or not people actually like it. It's nice to be back though :)


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